1959 Malayan general election

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| <- 1955 | 19 August 1959 | 1964 ->

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|

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All 104 seats in the Dewan Rakyat
53 seats needed for a majority
Registered| 2,133,272
Turnout| 1,564,575 (73.34%)
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

|
|
|

|  |  |
Leader  | Tunku Abdul Rahman | Burhanuddin al-Helmy | Ahmad Boestamam
Party  | Alliance | PMIP | Socialist Front
Last election  | 81.68%, 51 seats  | 4.06%, 1 seat  | 0.48%, 0 seats
Seats won  | 74 | 13  | 8
Seat change  |  23  |  12  |  8
Popular vote  | 800,944 | 329,070  | 199,688
Percentage  | 51.77% | 21.27%  | 12.91%
Swing  |  29.91pp  |  17.21pp  |  12.43pp

* * *

| Fourth party  | Fifth party  | Sixth party
|  |  |  MP
Leader  | D. R. Seenivasagam | Onn Jaafar | Tan Kee Gak
Party  | PPP | National Party | Malayan Party
Last election  | 0.11%, 0 seats  | 7.88%, 0 seats  | –
Seats won  | 4  | 1  | 1
Seat change  |  4  |  1  | New
Popular vote  | 97,391  | 32,578  | 13,404
Percentage  | 6.29%  | 2.11%  | 0.87%
Swing  |  6.18pp  |  5.77pp  | New

* * *

Results by constituency

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| Prime Minister before election

Tunku Abdul Rahman
Alliance

| Prime Minister-designate

Tunku Abdul Rahman
Alliance

|

General elections were held in the Federation of Malaya on Wednesday, 19 August 1959 for members of the first Parliament of the Federation of Malaya,[1] the first parliamentary election in Malaya. It was the third national-wide election held in Malaya since the end of World War II. Malaya later formed Malaysia with three other states in 1963. Voting took place in all 104 parliamentary constituencies of Malaya, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. Voter turnout was 73%.

In the election, the Alliance Party – later Barisan Nasional – emerged as the victor. The party was a coalition formed by United Malays National Organisation, Malayan Chinese Association and Malayan Indian Congress. The coalition won 74 out of 104 seats in the Dewan Rakyat with only 52% of the total vote. The opposition as a whole won 30 seats with 48% of the vote.

The 71% majority allowed Alliance Party to form a government as sanctioned by the constitution of Malaya.

When results were announced on the morning of 20 August, only 103 seats were returned as elections in the Kedah Tengah (Central Kedah) constituency was delayed until 30 September.[2] The Alliance proceeded to win this seat with Khir Johari as the winning candidate.

Prior to the parliamentary election, state elections took place in all 282 state constituencies in 11 states of Malaya from 20 May to 24 June 1959, each electing one Member to the State Legislative Assembly, the Dewan Undangan Negeri. As a result, PAS took over the administration of Terengganu and Kelantan but served only 2 terms before being retaken by Alliance.

Three Alliance candidates contested unopposed

## Timelines

[edit]

### Dewan Rakyat

[edit]

* Nomination date: 15 July 1959
* Election day: 19 August 1959

### State legislative assemblies

[edit]

State | Nomination Date | State election

|
|

Perlis | 15 April 1959 | 20 May 1959
Kedah | 15 April 1959 | 20 May 1959
Malacca | 18 April 1959 | 23 May 1959
Perak | 22 April 1959 | 27 May 1959
Selangor | 25 April 1959 | 30 May 1959
Negeri Sembilan | 28 April 1959 | 2 June 1959
Penang | 2 May 1959 | 6 June 1959
Johor | 6 May 1959 | 10 June 1959
Pahang | 13 May 1959 | 27 June 1959
Terengganu | 16 May 1959 | 20 June 1959
Kelantan | 20 May 1959 | 24 June 1959

## Results

[edit]

Party or alliance| Votes| %| Seats| +/–
| Alliance Party| | United Malays National Organisation| 553,160| 35.75| 52| +18
| Malayan Chinese Association| 232,073| 15.00| 19| +4
| Malayan Indian Congress| 15,711| 1.02| 3| +1
Total| 800,944| 51.77| 74| +23
| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 329,070| 21.27| 13| +12
| Malayan Peoples'
Socialist Front| | Labour Party of Malaya| 199,688| 12.91| 6| +6
| Parti Ra'ayat| 2| New
Total| 8| New
| People's Progressive Party| 97,391| 6.29| 4| +4
| Parti Negara| 32,578| 2.11| 1| +1
| Malayan Party| 13,404| 0.87| 1| New
| Independents| 74,194| 4.80| 3| +3
Total| 1,547,269| 100.00| 104| +52
Valid votes| 1,547,269| 98.89|
Invalid/blank votes| 17,306| 1.11|
Total votes| 1,564,575| 100.00|
Registered voters/turnout| 2,133,272| 73.34|
Source: Nohlen et al. [1][2][3][4]

### By state

[edit]

Main article: Results of the 1959 Malayan general election by parliamentary constituency

#### Johore

[edit]

Party or alliance| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Alliance Party| | United Malays National Organisation| 11| +7
| Malayan Chinese Association| 5| +2
Total| 16| +2
| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 0| New
Total| 16| +8

#### Kedah

[edit]

Party or alliance| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Alliance Party| | United Malays National Organisation| 10| +6
| Malayan Chinese Association| 2| 0
Total| 12| +6
| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 0| 0
| Malayan Peoples'
Socialist Front| | Labour Party of Malaya| 0| New
| Parti Ra'ayat| 0| New
Total| 0| New
| Independents| 0| 0
Total| 12| +6

#### Kelantan

[edit]

Party| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 9| +9
| United Malays National Organisation| 1| –4
| Parti Negara| 0| –4
Total| 10| +5

#### Malacca

[edit]

Party or alliance| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Alliance Party| | United Malays National Organisation| 2| +1
| Malayan Chinese Association| 1| 0
Total| 3| +1
| Malayan Party| 1| New
| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 0| New
Total| 4| +2

#### Negeri Sembilan

[edit]

Party or alliance| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Alliance Party| | United Malays National Organisation| 3| +1
| Malayan Indian Congress| 1| New
| Malayan Chinese Association| 0| –1
Total| 4| +1
| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 0| New
| Independents| 2| +2
Total| 6| +3

#### Pahang

[edit]

Party or alliance| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Alliance Party| | United Malays National Organisation| 5| +2
| Malayan Chinese Association| 1| New
Total| 6| +3
| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 0| 0
Total| 6| +3

#### Penang

[edit]

Party or alliance| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Alliance Party| | United Malays National Organisation| 3| +1
| Malayan Chinese Association| 2| 0
Total| 5| +1
| Labour Party of Malaya| 3| +3
| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 0| 0
| People's Progressive Party| 0| New
| Independents| 0| 0
Total| 8| +4

#### Perak

[edit]

Party or alliance| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Alliance Party| | United Malays National Organisation| 9| +4
| Malayan Chinese Association| 5| +2
| Malayan Indian Congress| 1| 0
Total| 15| +6
| People's Progressive Party| 4| +1
| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 0| –1
| Independents| 1| +1
Total| 20| +10

#### Perlis

[edit]

Party| Votes| %| Seats| +/–

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|
|
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| United Malays National Organisation| 17,653| 59.63| 2| +1
| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 11,950| 40.37| 0| New
Total| 29,603| 100.00| 2| +1
Valid votes| 29,603| 99.25|
Invalid/blank votes| 223| 0.75|
Total votes| 29,826| 100.00|
Registered voters/turnout| 38,355| 77.76|

#### Selangor

[edit]

Party or alliance| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Alliance Party| | United Malays National Organisation| 5| +1
| Malayan Chinese Association| 3| 0
| Malayan Indian Congress| 1| New
Total| 9| +2
| Malayan Peoples'
Socialist Front| | Labour Party of Malaya| 3| 0
| Parti Ra'ayat| 2| New
Total| 5| New
| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 0| 0
Total| 14| +7

#### Terengganu

[edit]

Party| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Pan-Malayan Islamic Party| 4| New
| United Malays National Organisation| 1| –2
| Parti Negara| 1| +1
| Parti Ra'ayat| 0| New
| Independents| 0| New
Total| 6| +3

### State Assemblies

[edit]

Main article: 1959 Malayan state elections

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p152 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
2. ^ Arkib Negara: Pembentukan Kabinet Yang Pertama Selepas Merdeka[permanent dead link‍] (in Malay)

## External links

[edit]

* Documentary video about the 1959 elections Government of Malaysia (in Malay)

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