1959 Malaysian General Election

19 August 1959 · Malaya before and after Merdeka · 104 seats, 53 for a majority

General elections were held in the Federation of Malaya on Wednesday, 19 August 1959 for members of the first Parliament of the Federation of Malaya, the first parliamentary election in Malaya. It was the third national-wide election held in Malaya since the end of World War II.

Prime Minister before

Tunku Abdul Rahman

Alliance

Prime Minister (continued)

Tunku Abdul Rahman

Alliance

Largest force

Alliance

74 of 104 seats

Turnout

73.3%

The result

Sort by

Alliance

Tunku Abdul Rahman · 51.8% of votes · +23 seats

seats

Pan-Malayan Islamic Party

Burhanuddin al-Helmy · 68.4% of votes · +9 seats

seats

Socialist Front

Ahmad Boestamam · 12.9% of votes · +8 seats

seats

PPP

D. R. Seenivasagam · 6.3% of votes · +4 seats

seats

United Malays National Organisation

31.4% of votes · +4 seats

seats

National Party

Onn Jaafar · 2.1% of votes · +1 seats

seats

Malayan Party

Tan Kee Gak · 0.9% of votes

seats


Alliance	Tunku Abdul Rahman	74	+23	800,944	51.8%	-29.9
Pan-Malayan Islamic Party	Burhanuddin al-Helmy	9	+9	116,087	68.4%	+17.2
Socialist Front	Ahmad Boestamam	8	+8	199,688	12.9%	+12.4
PPP	D. R. Seenivasagam	4	+4	97,391	6.3%	+6.2
United Malays National Organisation	—	1	+4	53,382	31.4%	—
National Party	Onn Jaafar	1	+1	32,578	2.1%	-5.8
Malayan Party	Tan Kee Gak	1	—	13,404	0.9%	—

6 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.