Malaysian Social Justice Party or ( ms, Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia) (PEKEMAS) was a political party formed by Tan Chee Khoon and Syed Hussein Alatas in 1972. On 19 July 1974, Parti Marhaen Malaysia merged with the party. The party was dissolved in 1982.

History

The party were formed by Tan Chee Khoon, Syed Hussein Alatas and

Veerappen Veerathan ''Veerappen Veerathan'' (known as V. Veerappen) is a Malaysian lawyer and politician. He is well known for founding the Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) together with Dr. Lim Chong Eu, Dr. Tan Chee Khoon and Dr. Syed Hussein Alatas. In 19 ...

in 1972 after

Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia The Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia ( en, Malaysian People's Movement Party, commonly abbreviated as GERAKAN or less commonly as PGRM) is a liberal political party in Malaysia. Formed in 1968, Gerakan gained prominence in the 1969 general electi ...

co-founder

Lim Chong Eu Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu (; 28 May 1919 – 24 November 2010) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 2nd Chief Minister of Penang from May 1969 to October 1990. He was also the founding president of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN). ...

led Gerakan into the newly expanded

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 ...

(renamed as the

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 ...

or National Front). Tan strongly opposed this move because he felt it endorsed the race-based parties in Barisan Nasional. PEKEMAS is noted as a non-communal party and were formed based on principles similar to Gerakan. Them were joined by 2 others Gerakan MPs, V. David and Veerappen. Despite this, Tan supported the controversial government-supported

New Economic Policy The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...

, which expanded the privileges given to

Bumiputra ''Bumiputera'' or ''Bumiputra'' ( Jawi: ) is a term used in Malaysia to describe Malays, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, and various indigenous peoples of East Malaysia (see official definition below). The term is sometimes controve ...

(Malays and other indigenous people) under Article 153 of the Constitution because he felt tougher affirmative action was required to address Malay poverty.Loh, Kok Kin (2003)
"Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon – A Life of Service"
. Retrieved 14 February 2006. On 19 July 1974, Parti Marhaen Malaysia merged with the party. In the 1974 general election, PEKEMAS suffered a terrible defeat, with Tan being the only successful candidate out of 36 candidates for Parliament. PEKEMAS' campaign against the government was predicated on denying them the requisite 2/3 majority for amending the Constitution, which Tan opposed. The

Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia. As one of four component parties of the ...

and the

Sarawak National Party The Sarawak National Party known by its acronym as "SNAP", is now a defunct political party in Malaysia. It was a member party of the Alliance Party from 1963 to 1966 and a member of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition from 1976 until its expulsion ...

became the largest opposition parties in Parliament, with nine seats each. This effectively hamstrung Tan's and PEKEMAS' agenda in Parliament. Tan announced his retirement from politics in 1977, although he held his Parliament and Selangor State Assembly seats until their terms expired the next year. The party influence started to wear out in 1978 due to the defection of its chairman,

Ahmad Boestamam Ahmad Boestamam (30 November 1920 – 19 January 1983), or Abdullah Sani, was a Malaysian freedom fighter, politician and was the founding president of Parti Rakyat Malaysia and Parti Marhaen Malaysia. Ahmad Boestamam was born in Setapak, Ampa ...

Parti Rakyat Malaysia The Malaysian People's Party (abbreviation: PRM; Malay: ''Parti Rakyat Malaysia'') is a political party in Malaysia. Founded on 11 November 1955 as Partai Ra'ayat, it is one of the older political parties in Malaysia and traces its pedigree t ...

after 1978 general elections. The party further shrank in 1979 due to most of PEKEMAS' supporters defecting to the DAP. It managed to field a candidate in the 1982 general elections before its dissolution.

List of PEKEMAS leaders

Elected Representatives

Members of the Dewan Rakyat, 4th Malaysian Parliament This is a list of the members of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) of the 4th Parliament of Malaysia The Parliament of Malaysia ( ms, Parlimen Malaysia) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. T ...

List of Malaysian State Assembly Representatives (1974–78) A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...

Legacy

The party has been noted as having rough similarities with current

Parti Keadilan Rakyat The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a Reformism, reformist politics of Malaysia, political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the olde ...

General elections result

State election results

References

{{Malaysian political parties Socialist parties in Malaysia 1972 establishments in Malaysia 1982 disestablishments in Malaysia Political parties established in 1972 Political parties disestablished in 1982 Defunct political parties in Malaysia