The Independence of Malaya Party ( ms, Parti Kemerdekaan Malaya) was a political party in

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-ruled Malaya that stood for political

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. Founded by Onn Ja'afar after he left UMNO in 1951, it opposed the

UMNO 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 ...

policy of Malay supremacy. The party was open to all races of Malaya, but received support mainly from ethnic Indians. The IMP headquarters were in what is now the landmark

Sultan Abdul Samad Building The Sultan Abdul Samad Building ( Malay: Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad) is a late-nineteenth century building located along Jalan Raja in front of the Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) and the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The ...

. The IMP contested in the 1952 Kuala Lumpur Municipal Elections in alliance with the

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 ...

under Dato' Onn and other non-communal organisations. However the 1952 elections proved the MIC's attempt to preach and practise non-communalism would not prevail in Malayan politics when communalism was the winning factor. The IMP won its only seat in the 1952 municipal elections via

Devaki Krishnan Tan Sri Devaki Ayathurai Krishnan (Tamil: தேவகி கிருஷ்ணன்) (born 11 March 1923) is a Malaysian politician. She became the first woman be elected to public office in Malaysia when she won a seat on the Municipal Coun ...

. Thus she became the first woman in the country to be elected to public office. In her 1952 election manifesto, she stated, "I will interest myself particularly in the lot of the women of Kuala Lumpur and in extending the programme of social work already carried out by the municipality." After noticing that support for the party was unfavourable, Onn dissolved the party in 1953 and formed the Parti Negara.

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References

1951 establishments in Malaya 1953 disestablishments in Malaya Political parties established in 1951 Political parties disestablished in 1953 Defunct political parties in Malaysia {{Malaysia-party-stub

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See also

References