1969 Malaysian general election

Malaysian general election, 1969

10 May 1969
All 144 seats in the Dewan Rakyat 78 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   style="text-align:center;border-bottom: 6px solid # 0000FF" | Leader Tunku Abdul Rahman Asri Muda Goh Hock Guan Party Alliance PAS DAP Last election 89 seats 9 seats 1 seat Seats won 77 12 13 Seat change 12 3 12 Popular vote 1,063,238 495,641 286,606 Percentage 50.9% 20.9 12.1
Prime Minister before election Tunku Abdul Rahman BN Prime Minister-designate Tunku Abdul Rahman BN

The first nation-wide General elections were held in Malaysia on 10 May 1969, although voting was postponed until between 21 and 27 June in Sabah and Sarawak. It resulted in the return to power, with a reduced majority, of the ruling Alliance Party, comprising the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the Malayan Chinese Association, and the Malayan Indian Congress. The Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which had campaigned against Bumiputra privileges outlined by Article 153 of the Constitution, made major gains in the election. Voter turnout was 73.6%. Opposition won 54 seats in total causing alliance to lose its two-thirds lead for the first time. This election also saw that Alliance lost Perak, Terengganu, Penang and Kelantan to the opposition.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Alliance Party	1,063,238	50.9	77	-12
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party	495,641	20.9	12	+3
Democratic Action Party, previously People's Action Party	286,606	12.1	13	+12
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia	178,971	7.5	8	New
People's Progressive Party	80,756	3.4	4	+2
Sarawak United People's Party	71,293	3.0	5	New
Sarawak National Party	64,593	2.7	9	New
United Sabah National Organisation	31,947	1.3	13	New
Parti Pesaka Sarawak	30,765	1.3	2	New
Parti Rakyat	25,785	1.1	0	New
United Malaysian Chinese Organisation	1,808	0.1	0	New
Independents	41,710	1.8	1	+1
Invalid/blank votes	134,230	-	-	-
Total	2,532,042	100	144	+40
Source: Nohlen et al.

West Malaysia went to the polls on May 10, while Sabah was scheduled to vote on May 25 and Sarawak on June 7. The Alliance won 10 seats in Sabah on nomination day being unopposed in some constituencies, so after the West Malaysian elections they were assured of a clear majority of 76 out of a total of 144 parliamentary seats. Tun Mustapha Datu Harun’s United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) won 10 out of 16 seats unopposed for the Alliance on nomination day.

The opposition parties’ gain at state level was more shocking to the Alliance Party which not only continued to lose to PAS in Kelantan, but also to political infant Gerakan in Penang. No party commanded an absolute majority in two other states. The Alliance held only 14 out of 24 seats in Selangor and 19 out of 40 in Perak.

Very interestingly, the attrition of Malay support was much higher than that of the non-Malays. Malay opposition parties’ vote shares in the peninsula increased drastically from about 15% in 1964 to 25% in 1969 while the support for non-Malay opposition parties remained roughly the same at 26% in both elections. Thanks to the electoral system, however, PAS seats increased from nine to 12 seats only while the non-Malay opposition parties from eight to 25.

Reaction

Gerakan and DAP held a victory rally in Kuala Lumpur on 12 May, but the rally turned rowdy, with party members shouting racial epithets at Malay bystanders. UMNO retaliated with its own rally on 13 May, which soon broke out into full-scale rioting, which subsequently became known as the May 13 Incident.