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
| Share of the Dewan Rakyat | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.