Malaysian general election, 1969

Malaysian general election, 1969

10 May 1969 - 4 July 1970
All 144 seats to the Dewan Rakyat 73 seats needed for a majority
Registered	3,450,000
Turnout	2,532,042 (73.6%)
First party Second party Third party   PAS DAP Leader Tunku Abdul Rahman Burhanuddin al-Helmy Goh Hock Guan Party Alliance PAS DAP Leader since 23 August 1951 1956 1969 Leader's seat Kuala Kedah No seat Bungsar Last election 89 seats, 58.5% 9 seats, 14.6% 1 seat, 2.0% Seats won 74 12 13 Seat change 15 3 12 Popular vote 1,063,238 495,641 286,606 Percentage 44.3% 20.9% 12.1% Swing 14.2% 6.3% 10.1%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Gerakan PPP SUPP Leader Lim Chong Eu S. P. Seenivasagam Party Gerakan People's Progressive Party Sarawak United People's Party Leader since 1969 1969 Leader's seat Tanjong Menglembu Last election New Party 2 seats, 3.4% New Party Seats won 8 4 5 Seat change 2 Popular vote 178,971 80,756 71,293 Percentage 7.5% 3.4% 3.0%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   SNAP USNO PESAKA Party SNAP United Sabah National Organisation Parti Pesaka Sarawak Last election New Party New Party New Party Seats won 9 13 2 Popular vote 64,593 31,947 30,765 Percentage 2.7% 1.3% 1.3%
Prime Minister before election Tunku Abdul Rahman Alliance Prime Minister-designate Tunku Abdul Rahman Alliance

A general election was held on Saturday, 10 May 1969 for members of the 3rd Parliament of Malaysia, although voting was postponed until between 6 June and 4 July 1970 in Sabah and Sarawak. This election marked the first parliamentary election held in Sabah and Sarawak after the formation of Malaysia in 1963.

The election resulted in the return to power, with a reduced majority, of the ruling Alliance Party, comprising the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the Malayan Chinese Association, and the Malayan Indian Congress. The Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which had campaigned against Bumiputra privileges outlined by Article 153 of the Constitution, made major gains in the election. Voter turnout was 73.6%. Opposition won 54 seats in total causing the Alliance to lose its two-thirds majority in the Parliament (two-thirds majority being the majority required to pass most constitutional amendments) for the first time. This election also saw that Alliance lost its majority in Perak, Selangor and Penang in addition to Kelantan.

State elections also took place in 330 state constituencies in 12 (out of 13, except Sabah) states of Malaysia on the same day.

Results

Parliamentary results

Political Party				Votes	% of vote	Seats	% of seats	+/–
	Alliance Party		Alliance	1,063,238	44.3	74	51.4	-15
		United Malays National Organisation	UMNO			52*	36.1	-7
		Malaysian Chinese Association	MCA			13	9.0	-14
		Malaysian Indian Congress	MIC			2	1.4	-1
		Sarawak Chinese Association	SCA			1	0.7	New
		Parti Bumiputera Sarawak	BUMIPUTERA			6	4.2	New
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party		PAS	495,641	20.9	12	8.3	+3
	Democratic Action Party		DAP	286,606	12.1	13	9.0	+12
	Malaysian People's Movement Party		Gerakan	178,971	7.5	8	5.6	New
	People's Progressive Party		PPP	80,756	3.4	4	2.8	+2
	Sarawak United People's Party		SUPP	71,293	3.0	5	3.5	New
	Sarawak National Party		SNAP	64,593	2.7	9	6.3	New
	United Sabah National Organisation		USNO	31,947	1.3	13	9.0	New
	Parti Pesaka Sarawak		PESAKA	30,765	1.3	2	1.4	New
	Parti Ra'ayat		Ra'ayat	25,785	1.1	0	0.0	New
	Sabah Chinese Association		SCA	24,699	1.0	3	2.1	New
	United Malaysian Chinese Organisation		UMCO	1,808	0.1	0	0.0	New
	Independents		IND	41,710	1.8	1	0.7	+1
Valid votes				2,397,812
Invalid/blank votes				134,230
Total (turnout: 73.6%)				2,532,042	100.0	144	100.0	+40
Did not vote				917,958
Registered voters				3,450,000
Source: Nohlen et al. [1], [2],[3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13] Candidates were returned unopposed in 19 constituencies. Election in one constituency postponed.

West Malaysia went to the polls on 10 May, while Sabah was scheduled to vote on 25 May and Sarawak on 7 June. The Alliance won 10 seats in Sabah on nomination day being unopposed in some constituencies, so after the West Malaysian elections they were assured of a clear majority of 76 out of a total of 144 parliamentary seats. Tun Mustapha Datu Harun’s United Sabah National Organisation (Usno) won 10 out of 16 seats unopposed for the Alliance on nomination day.

The opposition parties’ gain at state level was more shocking to the Alliance Party which not only continued to lose to PAS in Kelantan, but also to political infant Gerakan in Penang. No party commanded an absolute majority in two other states. The Alliance held only 14 out of 24 seats in Selangor and 19 out of 40 in Perak.

Very interestingly, the attrition of Malay support was much higher than that of the non-Malays. Malay opposition parties’ vote shares in the peninsula increased drastically from about 15% in 1964 to 25% in 1969 while the support for non-Malay opposition parties remained roughly the same at 26% in both elections. Thanks to the electoral system, however, PAS seats increased from nine to 12 seats only while non-Malay opposition party, DAP, from 12 to 25.

Reaction

Gerakan and DAP held a victory rally in Kuala Lumpur on 12 May, but the rally turned rowdy, with party members shouting racial epithets at Malay bystanders. UMNO retaliated with its own rally on 13 May, which soon broke out into full-scale rioting, which subsequently became known as the 13 May Incident.