Malayan general election, 1955

Malaysia

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General elections were held in Malaya on 27 July 1955, the only general elections before Malaya's independence in 1957. It was held to elect members of the Federal Legislative Council, which prior to this was fully appointed by the British High Commissioner in Malaya.

The election was the first in which the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) contested. MIC joined the Alliance Party in 1954.

The Pan-Malayan Islamic Party (PMIP, later known as PAS) was formed primarily to contest in the 1955 election. Before that, PMIP was known as the "Pan-Malayan Islamic Association", as a part of UMNO. PMIP won support by proclaiming its aim of making Islam the base of the Malay society in the north of Malay Peninsula, which was facing the lowest economic growth in Malaya.

The election resulted in a decisive win for the Alliance, which consisted of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) and MIC, and a resounding defeat for Parti Negara, led by former UMNO president Onn Jaafar. Onn himself failed to win a seat, while the Alliance proceeded to form the new government, with its leader Tunku Abdul Rahman becoming Chief Minister.^[1]

Election results

The Alliance Party won around 80% of the total vote and 51 out of 52 seats contested. PMIP won their only seat in Krian, Perak. Its sole winning candidate was subsequently nicknamed "Mr. Opposition". Voter turnout was 82.8%.

e • d Summary of the 27 July 1955 Legislative Council election results

	Votes	% of vote	Seats	% of seats
Alliance	818,013	79.6	51	98.1
Parti Negara	78,909	7.6	0	0.0
Pan-Malayan Islamic Party (PMIP)	40,667	3.9	1	1.9
National Association of Perak (Parti Kebangsaan Perak, NAP)	20,996	2.0	0	0.0
Perak Malay League (Perikatan Melayu Perak)	5,433	0.5	0	0.0
Perak Progressive Party (PPP)	1,081	0.1	0	0.0
Labour Party	4,786	0.4	0	0.0
Independents	31,642	3.0	0	0.0
Invalid/blank votes	25,684	-	-	-
Overall total	1,027,211	100.0	52	100.0
Source: The Malayan Elections, Francis G. Carnell.[2] One Alliance candidate won unopposed.

Notes

1. ^ Gill, Ranjit (1990). Of Political Bondage. Sterling Corporate Services. pp. 40. ISBN 981-00-2136-4. 
2. ^ Carnell, Francis G. (December 1955). "The Malayan Elections". Pacific Affairs (University of British Columbia) 28 (4): 315. ISSN 0030851X. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3035316. Retrieved July 2, 2010. 

References

• Barbara Watson Andaya dan Leonard Y. Andaya. A History of Malaysia, The MacMlllan Press Ltd. (1982). ISBN 0-333-276736.
• The World Book Encyclopedia, World Book International (1994). ISBN 0-7166-6694-4.