1955 Malayan general election

Malayan general election, 1955

27 July 1955 (timelines)
52 (of the 98) seats to the Federal Legislative Council 27 seats needed for a majority
Registered	1,280,855
Turnout	1,027,211 (82.8%)
First party Second party Third party   PMIP Leader Tunku Abdul Rahman Onn Jaafar Abbas Alias Party Alliance National Party PMIP Leader since 23 August 1951 (1951-08-23) 10 May 1946 (1946-05-10) 1953 Leader's seat Sungei Muda No seat No seat Seats won 51 No seats 1 Popular vote 818,013 78,909 40,667 Percentage 81.7% 7.9% 4.1%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   NAP PML Lab Leader D. S. Ramanathan Party National Association of Perak Perak Malay League Labour Leader since 1953 Leader's seat No seat No seat Seats won No seats No seats No seats Seat change Popular vote 20,996 5,433 4,786 Percentage 2.1% 0.5% 0.5%   Seventh party   PPP Leader D. R. Seenivasagam Party Perak Progressive Party Leader since 1953 Leader's seat No seat Seats won No seats Popular vote 1,081 Percentage 0.1%
Elected Chief Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Alliance

A general election was held on Wednesday, 27 July 1955, the only general election 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. Voting took place in all 52 federal constituencies of Malaya, each electing one Federal Councillor to the Federal Legislative Council. State elections also took place in all 136 state constituencies in 9 states of Malaya and 2 settlements from 10 October 1954 to 12 November 1955, each electing one Councillor to the State Council or Settlement Council.

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.

Thirty Alliance candidates had majorities of over 10,000 votes. Nine of them had majorities of over 20,000. Forty-three of their opponents lost their deposits.

Timelines

Federal Legislative Council

• Nomination Date : 15 June 1955
• Election day : 27 July 1955

State Council

State	Nomination Date	State election
Johor	1 September 1954	10 October 1954
Terengganu		29 October 1954
Selangor	11 August 1955	27 September 1955
Kedah	14 August 1955	nil
Kelantan	15 August 1955	19 September 1955
Perlis	17 August 1955	24 September 1955
Pahang	25 August 1955	26 September 1955
Negeri Sembilan	8 September 1955	12 October 1955
Perak	1 October 1955	12 November 1955

Settlement Council

Settlement	Nomination Date	State election
Penang	13 January 1955	19 February 1955
Malacca	4 August 1955	nil

Results

Federal Legislative Council

Main article: Results of the 1955 Malayan general election by federal constituency

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, Haji Ahmad Tuan Hussein, an Islamic scholar, was subsequently nicknamed "Mr. Opposition". Voter turnout was 82.8%.

State and Settlement Councils

Main articles: Malayan state elections, 1954 and Malayan state elections, 1955

References

• Barbara Watson Andaya dan Leonard Y. Andaya. A History of Malaysia, The MacMlllan Press Ltd. (1982). ISBN 0-333-27673-6.
• The World Book Encyclopedia, World Book International (1994). ISBN 0-7166-6694-4.