1974 Malaysian general election

1974 Malaysian general election

24 August – 14 September 1974
All 154 seats to the Dewan Rakyat 78 seats needed for a majority
Registered	4,178,914
Turnout	2,220,186 (75.1%)
First party Second party Third party   SNAP Leader Abdul Razak Hussein Lim Kit Siang James Wong Party BN DAP SNAP Leader since 23 January 1971 1 October 1969 1963 Leader's seat Pekan Kota Melaka Miri-Subis (lost seat) Last election 74 seats, 44.3% 13 seats, 12.1% 9 seats, 2.7% Seats won 135 9 9 Seat change 61 4 Popular vote 1,287,400 387,845 117,566 Percentage 60.7% 18.3% 5.6% Swing 16.4% 6.2% 2.9%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   PEKEMAS PSRM KITA Leader Tan Chee Khoon Party Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia Parti Keadilan Insan Tanah Air Leader since 1972 Leader's seat Kepong No seat No seat Last election New Party No seats, 1.1% New Party Seats won 1 No seats No seats Seat change Popular vote 105,718 84,206 8,623 Percentage 5.0% 4.0% 0.4%
Prime Minister before election Abdul Razak Hussein BN Prime Minister-designate Abdul Razak Hussein BN

A general election was held between Saturday, 24 August and Saturday, 14 September 1974 for members of the 4th Parliament of Malaysia. Voting took place in all 154 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. State elections also took place in 360 state constituencies in 12 (out of 13, except Sabah) states of Malaysia on the same day. This is first and only election for Tun Abdul Razak as Prime Minister since was appointed to the position in 1970 and first general election the Barisan Nasional was new political alliance replacing Alliance Party with Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (PGRM) and People's Progressive Party (PPP) was part of Barisan Nasional.

Once Parliament had been dissolved on 31 July 1974, the Election Commission fixed 8 August 1974, as Nomination Day and 24 August 1974, as Polling Day. (In Malaysia, the election campaign must last a minimum of two weeks.)

Candidates were returned unopposed in 47 constituencies. The 1,060,871 electors from these constituencies therefore did not cast ballots. Another 88 Front members were later successful, thus enabling their alliance to gain an overwhelming majority in the House. This result was a victory for Barisan Nasional which won 135 of the 154 seats. Voter turnout was 75.1%.

Results

State Assemblies

Main article: 1974 Malaysian state elections

Opposition

After the election, Sarawak National Party (SNAP) became the largest opposition party in the Malaysian parliament and James Wong was appointed the opposition leader. After 2 months, he was detained under Internal Security Act. Datuk Seri Edmund Langgau Anak Saga from the SNAP party later succeeded him. James Wong was detained for almost two years before negotiation led by Datuk Amar Leo Moggie Anak Irok resulting in SNAP joining the Barisan Nasional.