1959 Malayan general election

A general election was held on Wednesday, 19 August 1959 for members of the first Parliament of the Federation of Malaya,[1] the first parliamentary election in Malaya. It was the third national-wide election held in Malaya since the end of World War II. Malaya later formed Malaysia 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 73.3%.

1959 Malayan general election

19 August 1959 (timelines)
All 104 seats to the Dewan Rakyat 53 seats needed for a majority
Registered	2,177,650
Turnout	1,564,575 (73.3%)
First party Second party Third party   SF Leader Tunku Abdul Rahman Burhanuddin al-Helmy Ahmad Boestaman Party Alliance PMIP Socialist Front Leader since 23 August 1951 (1951-08-23) 1956 (1956) 26 August 1958 Leader's seat Kuala Kedah Besut Setapak Last election 51 seats, 81.7% 1 seat, 4.1% New Party Seats won 74 13 8 Seat change 23 12 Popular vote 800,944 329,070 199,688 Percentage 51.8% 21.3% 12.9% Swing 29.9% 17.2%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   PPP MP Leader D. R. Seenivasagam Onn Jaafar Tan Kee Gak Party People's Progressive Party National Party Malayan Party Leader since 10 April 1953 February 1954 1956 Leader's seat Ipoh Kuala Trengganu Selatan Bandar Malacca Last election No seats, 0.1% No seats, 7.9% New Party Seats won 4 1 1 Seat change 4 1 Popular vote 97,391 32,578 13,404 Percentage 6.3% 2.1% 0.9% Swing 6.2% 5.8%
Malayan Parliament composition
Prime Minister before election Abdul Razak Hussein Alliance Prime Minister-designate Tunku Abdul Rahman Alliance

In the election, the Alliance Party – later Barisan Nasional – emerged as the victor. The party was a coalition formed by United Malays National Organisation, Malayan Chinese Association and Malayan Indian Congress. The coalition won 74 out of 104 seats in the Dewan Rakyat 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) constituency was delayed until 30 September.[2] The Alliance proceeded to win this seat with Khir Johari 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 of the Legislative Assembly to the Dewan Undangan Negeri.

Three Alliance candidates were returned unopposed.