No independence before majority rule
No independence before majority rule (NIBMAR) was a policy adopted by the British Empire requiring the implementation of majority rule in a colony, rather than rule by the white colonial minority, before the empire granted its colony independence.
In particular, this position was advocated with respect to the future status of Rhodesia as a sovereign nation. British Prime Minister Harold Wilson was pressured into adopting the approach during a conference in London. Wilson was not initially inclined to do so, but Lester Pearson, the Prime Minister of Canada, formulated a draft resolution committing Wilson to NIBMAR. Wilson defended the policy when it was attacked as disastrous by opposition Conservatives.[1] The accomplishment was short-lived, however, as Wilson continued to extend offers to Ian Smith which Smith ultimately rejected.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ House of Commons Hansard 20 December 1966
- ^ Good, Robert C. (1973). U.D.I.: the International Politics of the Rhodesian Rebellion. Princeton University Press.
