# 1959 Malayan general election

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. 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%.
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 52% of the total vote. The opposition as a whole won 30 seats with 48% of the vote.
The 71% 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. 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 to the State Legislative Assembly, the Dewan Undangan Negeri. As a result, PAS took over the administration of Terengganu and Kelantan but served only 2 terms before being retaken by Alliance.
Three Alliance candidates contested unopposed

## Timelines
### Dewan Rakyat

* Nomination date: 15 July 1959
* Election day: 19 August 1959

### State legislative assemblies

| State | Nomination Date | State election |
| Perlis | 15 April 1959 | 20 May 1959 |
| Kedah | 15 April 1959 | 20 May 1959 |
| Malacca | 18 April 1959 | 23 May 1959 |
| Perak | 22 April 1959 | 27 May 1959 |
| Selangor | 25 April 1959 | 30 May 1959 |
| Negeri Sembilan | 28 April 1959 | 2 June 1959 |
| Penang | 2 May 1959 | 6 June 1959 |
| Johor | 6 May 1959 | 10 June 1959 |
| Pahang | 13 May 1959 | 27 June 1959 |
| Terengganu | 16 May 1959 | 20 June 1959 |
| Kelantan | 20 May 1959 | 24 June 1959 |

## Results

| | Alliance Party | | United Malays National Organisation | 553,160 | 35.75 | 52 | +18 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Chinese Association | 232,073 | 15.00 | 19 | +4 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Indian Congress | 15,711 | 1.02 | 3 | +1 |
| | Alliance Party | Total | Total | 800,944 | 51.77 | 74 | +23 |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 329,070 | 21.27 | 13 | +12 |
| | Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front | | Labour Party of Malaya | 199,688 | 12.91 | 6 | +6 |
| | Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front | | Parti Ra'ayat | 199,688 | 12.91 | 2 | New |
| | Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front | Total | Total | 199,688 | 12.91 | 8 | New |
| | People's Progressive Party | People's Progressive Party | People's Progressive Party | 97,391 | 6.29 | 4 | +4 |
| | Parti Negara | Parti Negara | Parti Negara | 32,578 | 2.11 | 1 | +1 |
| | Malayan Party | Malayan Party | Malayan Party | 13,404 | 0.87 | 1 | New |
| | Independents | Independents | Independents | 74,194 | 4.80 | 3 | +3 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 1,547,269 | 100.00 | 104 | +52 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,547,269 | 98.89 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 17,306 | 1.11 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,564,575 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,133,272 | 73.34 | | |
| Source: Nohlen et al. ||||||||

### By state
#### Johore

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Seats | +/– |
| | Alliance Party | | United Malays National Organisation | 11 | +7 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Chinese Association | 5 | +2 |
| | Alliance Party | Total | Total | 16 | +2 |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 16 | +8 |

#### Kedah

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Seats | +/– |
| | Alliance Party | | United Malays National Organisation | 10 | +6 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Chinese Association | 2 | 0 |
| | Alliance Party | Total | Total | 12 | +6 |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 0 | 0 |
| | Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front | | Labour Party of Malaya | 0 | New |
| | Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front | | Parti Ra'ayat | 0 | New |
| | Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front | Total | Total | 0 | New |
| | Independents | Independents | Independents | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 12 | +6 |

#### Kelantan

| Party | Party | Seats | +/– |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 9 | +9 |
| | United Malays National Organisation | 1 | –4 |
| | Parti Negara | 0 | –4 |
| Total | Total | 10 | +5 |

#### Malacca

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Seats | +/– |
| | Alliance Party | | United Malays National Organisation | 2 | +1 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Chinese Association | 1 | 0 |
| | Alliance Party | Total | Total | 3 | +1 |
| | Malayan Party | Malayan Party | Malayan Party | 1 | New |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 4 | +2 |

#### Negeri Sembilan

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Seats | +/– |
| | Alliance Party | | United Malays National Organisation | 3 | +1 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Indian Congress | 1 | New |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Chinese Association | 0 | –1 |
| | Alliance Party | Total | Total | 4 | +1 |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 0 | New |
| | Independents | Independents | Independents | 2 | +2 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 6 | +3 |

#### Pahang

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Seats | +/– |
| | Alliance Party | | United Malays National Organisation | 5 | +2 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Chinese Association | 1 | New |
| | Alliance Party | Total | Total | 6 | +3 |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 6 | +3 |

#### Penang

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Seats | +/– |
| | Alliance Party | | United Malays National Organisation | 3 | +1 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Chinese Association | 2 | 0 |
| | Alliance Party | Total | Total | 5 | +1 |
| | Labour Party of Malaya | Labour Party of Malaya | Labour Party of Malaya | 3 | +3 |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 0 | 0 |
| | People's Progressive Party | People's Progressive Party | People's Progressive Party | 0 | New |
| | Independents | Independents | Independents | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 8 | +4 |

#### Perak

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Seats | +/– |
| | Alliance Party | | United Malays National Organisation | 9 | +4 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Chinese Association | 5 | +2 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Indian Congress | 1 | 0 |
| | Alliance Party | Total | Total | 15 | +6 |
| | People's Progressive Party | People's Progressive Party | People's Progressive Party | 4 | +1 |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 0 | –1 |
| | Independents | Independents | Independents | 1 | +1 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 20 | +10 |

#### Perlis

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
| | United Malays National Organisation | 17,653 | 59.63 | 2 | +1 |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 11,950 | 40.37 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 29,603 | 100.00 | 2 | +1 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 29,603 | 99.25 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 223 | 0.75 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 29,826 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 38,355 | 77.76 | | |

#### Selangor

| Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Party or alliance | Seats | +/– |
| | Alliance Party | | United Malays National Organisation | 5 | +1 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Chinese Association | 3 | 0 |
| | Alliance Party | | Malayan Indian Congress | 1 | New |
| | Alliance Party | Total | Total | 9 | +2 |
| | Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front | | Labour Party of Malaya | 3 | 0 |
| | Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front | | Parti Ra'ayat | 2 | New |
| | Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front | Total | Total | 5 | New |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 14 | +7 |

#### Terengganu

| Party | Party | Seats | +/– |
| | Pan-Malayan Islamic Party | 4 | New |
| | United Malays National Organisation | 1 | –2 |
| | Parti Negara | 1 | +1 |
| | Parti Ra'ayat | 0 | New |
| | Independents | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 6 | +3 |