The Parti Melayu Semangat 46 or ''Spirit of 46 Malay Party (S46)'' is a now defunct
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 ...
n political party. The party was formed in 1988, and dissolved in 1996. It was formed by
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh bin Tengku Mohd Hamzah ( Jawi: تڠکو غزالي بن تڠکو محمد حمزة; born 13 April 1937) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gua Musang from August 1986 to November ...
's "Team B" faction of the
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 ...
(UMNO), as a challenge to prime minister
Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...
and UMNO. Razaleigh had the personal support of former UMNO prime ministers
Tunku Abdul Rahman
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...
and
Hussein Onn
Tun Hussein bin Dato' Onn ( ms, حسين بن عون, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 12 February 1922 – 29 May 1990) was a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia from the death of his predece ...
, both of whom had also fallen out with Mahathir.
Establishment
The idea of Semangat 46 first came about in 1985 or 1986 when Malaysia was experiencing an economic recession. In 1987, Razaleigh's "Team B" faction challenged Mahathir's "Team A" faction for control of UMNO.
[ Mahathir won the party election with a slim 41 votes majority in the controversial 1987 UMNO leadership election,][Yahaya(2003), p. 135] and removed all Team B members from the cabinet. Team B leaders claimed many party delegates were improperly elected, and filed suit to overturn the election. This led to UMNO being declared illegal on technical grounds in 1988. Mahathir immediately reconstituted UMNO, with only Team A members.[Rodan (1996), p. 138]
Razaleigh and Team B formed their own party.[ They tried to register as "UMNO 46" (alluding to the party's founding in 1946. This was an attempt to invoke the nostalgic spirit of the old UMNO.] "UMNO 46" was rejected as a duplicate name, so Razaleigh chose the name "Semangat 46". On 3 June 1989, Semangat 46 was officially registered with the electoral college. The first party's general meeting was held on 12 October 1989, officiated by Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj. Among notable leaders that joined Semangat 46 were Marina Yusoff, Ilyani Ishak, Rais Yatim
Tan Sri Dato' Seri Utama Dr. Rais bin Yatim ( Jawi: رئيس بن يتيم; born 15 April 1942) is a Malaysian politician who is now serving as the 18th President of the Dewan Negara since September 2020. He was a Cabinet Minister in mul ...
, Harun Idris
Harun bin Idris (22 December 1925 – 19 October 2003) was a Malaysian politician and the 8th Menteri Besar of Selangor. Apart from his career in politics, Harun Idris (as he is informally known) was heavily involved in sports particularly org ...
, Suhaimi Kamaruddin
Dato' Haji Suhaimi Kamaruddin is a Malaysian politician and a lawyer by profession. He was a former chief of UMNO Youth and a former Deputy Minister in the federal government. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), t ...
, Ahmad Shabery Cheek
Ahmad Shabery bin Cheek ( Jawi: ; born 10 December 1958) is a Malaysian politician. He was the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government (2015-2018), and sat in Parliament as the member f ...
, Othman Saat
Othman Saat (4 April 1927 – 27 October 2007) was a Malaysian politician from the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), and later, Spirit of 46 Malay Party (S46), who served as the 11th Menteri Besar of Johor in Malaysia.
Political ca ...
, Salleh Abas
Mohamed Salleh bin Abas ( Jawi: محمد صالح بن عباس; 25 August 1929 – 16 January 2021) was a Malaysian judge and politician. He was a Lord President of the Federal (then Supreme) Court of Malaysia. He was dismissed from his ...
, Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad
Mohd Radzi bin Sheikh Ahmad ( Jawi: محمد رضي بن شيخ احمد; born 24 February 1942) is a Malaysian former footballer, lawyer, and politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia for the seat of Kangar in Perlis twice ...
, Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar
Tengku Azlan ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mu’azzam Shah (born 21 July 1949) is a former Malaysian politician and was the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia (MP) for the Jerantut constituency in Pahang from 1999 to 2013. ...
, and Ibrahim Ali.
General election
In 1990, Semangat 46 formed two coalitions with other opposition parties to contest the 1990 Malaysian general election
A general election was held between Saturday, 20 October and Sunday, 21 October 1990 for members of the 8th Parliament of Malaysia. Voting took place in all 180 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to ...
. The ''Gagasan Rakyat
The Gagasan Rakyat (GR or ''People's Might'') was an opposition Malaysian political coalition. The now defunct political coalition was founded by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's formation of Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46 or Semangat 46) after leaving ...
'' (GR) coalition was with the multi-racial Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left social democracy, social democratic political party in Malaysia. ...
(DAP) and 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 ...
(PRM). The ''Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah
The Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU or ''Muslims Unity Movement'') was an informal Malaysian political coalition. The now defunct political coalition was formed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's formation of Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46 or Semangat 4 ...
'' (APU) coalition was with the Muslim parties Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party
The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label=Jawi alphabet, Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamen ...
(PAS), Pan-Malaysian Islamic Front
The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Front (, Jawi: باريسن جماعه اسلاميه سمليسيا often known by its ; acronym: BERJASA) is a political party in Malaysia. The party is part of a Malay-Islam based coalition named "Gerakan Tanah Air" ...
(BERJASA), Parti Hizbul Muslimin Malaysia (HAMIM) and the newly formed Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress
The Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress ( ms, Kongres India Muslim Malaysia; ta, மலேசிய இந்திய முஸ்லிம் காங்கிரஸ்; abbrev: KIMMA) is a political party in Malaysia which seeks to repres ...
(KIMMA).
Despite these alliances, Semangat 46 did poorly in the 1990 federal election, winning only 8 of 180 seats. However, the Angkatan alliance swept the state election in Razaleigh's home state, 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 ...
, winning all 39 seats. Semangat 46 won 15, PAS won 24. For the first time in UMNO history, the party failed to win any seats in a state level.
Over the next few years, Semangat 46 lost support; many of its members defected to UMNO, including the party's youth chief Ibrahim Ali. Others remained as members but withdrew from political activity. In February 1994, Semangat 46 decided to challenge UMNO on Malay communal issues. The party was renamed Parti Melayu Semangat 46, and thus renounced its multi-ethnic stance.
In the mid-1990s, Semangat 46's relationship with DAP deteriorated, which eventually led to the breakup of the Gagasan Rakyat
The Gagasan Rakyat (GR or ''People's Might'') was an opposition Malaysian political coalition. The now defunct political coalition was founded by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's formation of Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46 or Semangat 46) after leaving ...
(GR) coalition, shortly before the 1995 Malaysian general election
A general election was held between Monday, 24 April and Tuesday, 25 April 1995 for members of the 9th Parliament of Malaysia. Voting took place in all 192 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dew ...
. At the same time, Semangat 46 had increasingly strained ties with PAS over power-sharing in Kelantan state, though they still managed to retain control of Kelantan and worked together in the 1995 election. By this time, the party's credibility was severely compromised by winning so few electoral victories and the loss of many key figures. The deputy president, Rais Yatim
Tan Sri Dato' Seri Utama Dr. Rais bin Yatim ( Jawi: رئيس بن يتيم; born 15 April 1942) is a Malaysian politician who is now serving as the 18th President of the Dewan Negara since September 2020. He was a Cabinet Minister in mul ...
, lost his parliamentary seat in the 1995 election, though Tengku Razaleigh was re-elected. In the end, Semangat 46 won six parliamentary seats, with support coming mainly from Kelantan.
Dissolution
By May 1996, Semangat 46 was greatly reduced in size and influence. Razeleigh was finally worn out after spending millions of ringgit to upkeep the party. Razaleigh officially announced to the remaining 200,000 members that he would disband the party, which was done in October. Razaleigh rejoined UMNO with most of the party members. Some were denied re-admission to UMNO; they either left politics altogether or joined PAS.
General election results
State election results
See also
* 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis
The 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis (also known as the 1988 judicial crisis) was a series of events that began with United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party elections in 1987 and ended with the suspension and the eventual removal ...
* Gagasan Rakyat
The Gagasan Rakyat (GR or ''People's Might'') was an opposition Malaysian political coalition. The now defunct political coalition was founded by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's formation of Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46 or Semangat 46) after leaving ...
* Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah
The Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU or ''Muslims Unity Movement'') was an informal Malaysian political coalition. The now defunct political coalition was formed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's formation of Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46 or Semangat 4 ...
References
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{{Malaysian political parties
Defunct political parties in Malaysia
Political parties established in 1988
Political parties disestablished in 1996
1988 establishments in Malaysia
1996 disestablishments in Malaysia