General elections were held in the

Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Empire, British Straits Settlements, P ...

on Wednesday, 19 August 1959 for members of the first Parliament of the Federation of Malaya, the first parliamentary election in Malaya. It was the third national-wide election held in Malaya since the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Malaya later formed

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

with three other states in 1963. Voting took place in all 104 parliamentary constituencies of Malaya, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. Voter turnout was 73%. In the election, the Alliance Party – later

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...

– emerged as the victor. The party was a coalition formed by

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...

Malayan Chinese Association The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; zh, 马来西亚华人公会; ; ta, மலேசிய சீனர் சங்கம், initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that seeks to ...

and

Malayan Indian Congress The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC; ta, மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ், Malēciya Intiya Kāṅkiras; formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress) is a Malaysian political party. It is one of the founding membe ...

. The coalition won 74 out of 104 seats in the

Dewan Rakyat The Dewan Rakyat (English: 'House of Representatives'; ) is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, the federal legislature of Malaysia. The chamber and its powers are established by Article 44 of the Constitution of Malaysia. The Dewan Ra ...

with only 51.8% of total votes. The opposition as a whole garnered 30 seats with 48.3% of total votes. The 71.1% majority allowed Alliance Party to form a government as sanctioned by the Constitution of Malaya. When results were announced on the morning of 20 August, only 103 seats were returned as elections in the ''Kedah Tengah'' (''Central

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area ...

'') constituency was delayed until 30 September.Arkib Negara
Pembentukan Kabinet Yang Pertama Selepas Merdeka
(in Malay) The Alliance proceeded to win this seat with

Khir Johari Tan Sri Mohamed Khir bin Johari ( ms, محمد خير بن جوهري, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 29 January 1923 – 19 November 2006) was a Malaysian politician and the former Malaysian Minister of Education. Born on 29 Januar ...

as the winning candidate. Prior to the parliamentary election, state elections took place in all 282 state constituencies in 11 states of Malaya from 20 May to 24 June 1959, each electing one Member to the State Legislative Assembly, the

Dewan Undangan Negeri A state legislative assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri, DUN; also known simply as state assembly) is the legislative branch of the state governments in each of the 13 Malaysian states. Members of a state legislative assembly comprises elected r ...

. As a result, PAS took over the administration of

Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith"). ...

and

Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in the ...

but served only 2 terms before being retaken by

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. Three

candidates contested unopposed

Timelines

Dewan Rakyat

*Nomination Date : 15 July 1959 *Election day : 19 August 1959

State legislative assemblies

Results

By state

Johore

Kedah

Kelantan

Malacca

Negeri Sembilan

Pahang

Penang

Perak

Perlis

Selangor

Trengganu

State Assemblies

References

External links

Documentary video about the 1959 elections
Government of Malaysia (in Malay) {{Malaysian elections General elections in Malaysia

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Political history of Malaya