1955 Malayan general election

27 July 1955
52 of the 98 seats in the Federal Legislative Council 27 seats needed for a majority
Registered	1,240,058
Turnout	82.84%
First party Second party   Leader Tunku Abdul Rahman Abbas Alias Party UMNO PMIP Alliance Alliance Seats won 51 1 Popular vote 818,013 40,667 Percentage 81.68% 4.06%
Map of winners by constituancy
Elected Chief Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Alliance

Part of the Independence of Malaya
Events
Early Malay nationalism Kesatuan Melayu Muda  • Defenders of the Homeland Japanese occupation of Malaya British Military Administration Malayan Union All-Malaya Council of Joint Action Federation of Malaya Sungai Siput incident Malayan Emergency Federal Legislative Council Malayan Forum Communities Liaison Committee Briggs Plan Member System 1952 local elections 1955 General election Baling Talks Barnes Report Razak Report Treaty of London Reid Commission F. of Malaya Independence Act Parti Perikatan Merdeka Day Anglo-Malayan Defence Agreement Article 160 UN Security Council Resolution 125 Peace Agreement of Hat Yai
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General elections were held in the Federation of Malaya on Wednesday, 27 July 1955, the only general election before independence in 1957. They were held to elect members of the Federal Legislative Council, whose members had previously been fully appointed by the British High Commissioner. Voting took place in all 52 federal constituencies, each electing one member. State elections also took place in all 136 state constituencies in nine states of Malaya and two settlements from 10 October 1954 to 12 November 1955, each electing one councillor to the State Council or Settlement Council.

The Pan-Malayan Islamic Party (PMIP) was formed primarily to contest in the 1955 elections. Previously the PMIP had been known as the "Pan-Malayan Islamic Association", as a part of the United Malays National Organisation (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 elections resulted in a decisive win for the Alliance Party, an alliance of the UMNO, the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) and Malayan Indian Congress (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.^[1]

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

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

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%.

Notes

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.