The first elected govt
Least votes ever obtained: 19
IN 1959, the first parliamentary and state elections of the Federation of Malaya were held after the country became independent and sovereign on Aug 31, 1957.
The elections were a historic landmark as they created for the first time fully elected legislatures at federal and state levels.
The polls were the first to be held under the supervision of the Election Commission which was formed in 1958. State elections were staggered until the parliamentary polls on Aug 19.
Tunku Abdul Rahman who wanted to concentrate on the federal and state elections relinquished his post as Prime Minister on April 16 and Tun Abdul Razak Hussein was sworn in to replace him.
Tunku resumed as premier with Razak returning to his post of deputy after the Alliance won 74 of the 104 parliament seats contested by 259 candidates, including 29 Independents.
Contesting all the parliament seats, the Alliance campaigned on a platform of peace, justice and prosperity, and offered greater national wealth and more individual earnings.
In his message introducing the Alliance manifesto, Tunku stated in a live broadcast that the coalition planned to dedicate the resources devoted to the war against communists during the Emergency to the economic and material well-being of the nation.
With 37 candidates in the fray, the main planks in the manifesto of the Malayan People’s Socialist Front - Party Rakyat and Labour Party - were economic changes to bring about a socialist Malaya. Party Rakyat was led by Ahmad Boestaman who headed the Socialist Front while the Labour Party leader was D.S. Ramanathan.
The People’s Progressive Party, under secretary-general D.R. Seenivasagam with 19 candidates, campaigned on a slogan of “equality and progress” in a democratic welfare state.
The Pan-Malayan Islamic Party led by Dr Burhanuddin Al-Helmy with 58 candidates declared in its manifesto that its aim was to turn Malaya into an Islamic state and to restore Malay dignity.
Parti Negara with nine candidates did not issue any manifesto but its leader Dato Onn Jaffar indicated that the party would make many changes to safeguard the rights of the Malays.
The opposition parties gained ground in the elections with the internal feud over seat allocation within the Alliance contributing to it losing several seats.
National and anti-colonial sentiments were evoked by the opposition Pan Malayan Islamic Party, Socialist Front, People’s Progressive Party, Parti Negara and the Malayan Party. Yusof Nasir (IND), Sukau state seat in Sabah, 2008.