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1964 Malaysian general election
← outgoing members Members elected →
104 of the 159 seats in the Dewan Rakyat; 53 seats needed for a majority
Registered	2,681,895
Turnout	80.03%
Prime Minister before election; Tunku Abdul Rahman; Alliance	Prime Minister-designate ; Tunku Abdul Rahman; Alliance

General elections were held in Malaysia on Saturday, 25 April 1964. It elected members of the expanded Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Malaysia, after the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 whereby the Federation of Malaya was superseded by Malaysia with the additions of the Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah. Voting took place in 104 out of 159 parliamentary constituencies, each electing one Member of Parliament (MP).^[1] State elections also took place in 282 state constituencies in 11 out of 14 states of Malaysia on the same day, each electing one Member of the Legislative Assemblies (MLA).

The result was a victory for the Alliance Party, which won 89 of the 104 seats with a turnout of 80%. Two Alliance candidates were returned uncontested. Notably, the result also contributed towards the eventual expulsion of Singapore from Malaysia. The Singaporean-based People's Action Party (PAP) had decided to run on the peninsular in response to the United Malays National Organisation (UNMO) participating in the 1963 Singaporean general election, which violated an agreement not to do so, and although the PAP attracted large crowds at its rallies, it won only one seat – Devan Nair in Bangsar at Selangor.^[2] It is thought by some historians that Minister of Finance and Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) President Tan Siew Sin's appeal to the ethnic Chinese in the peninsular to avoid challenging the Malay special rights and risk merger with Indonesia helped the MCA retain its status as the "undisputed leader of the Chinese in the Malayan peninsula" at the time. Nevertheless, Alliance leaders, especially from UMNO and MCA, were furious with the PAP and would deem them and Lee Kuan Yew's charisma with voters as a threat to their rule.

As it was the first parliamentary general election held after the formation of Malaysia in 1963, state elections were not held in Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak. Transitional provisions allowed the state legislatures of the three states to choose their parliamentary representatives until the next election. The three states were allocated a total of 55 seats – 15 for Singapore, 16 for Sabah and 24 for Sarawak. Together, these three states held 35% out of the 159 seats in parliament. This was intended to act as a check and balance to prevent parliament from passing constitutional amendments – which required a two-thirds majority – without the agreement of representatives from the three new states. After Singapore was expelled from Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak were only left with 28% of the seats (when 40 seats were divided by the remaining 144), and as a consequence both states were not able to stop parliament from approving laws that would erode on their special rights granted upon them as equal partners. The percentage would further fall to 25% after the 1974 general election, and despite an increase in seats over the years, the percentage has remained almost constant ever since.^[3]

Results



Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats
Party or alliance				Votes	%	Elected	Appointed	Total	+/–
	Alliance Party		United Malays National Organisation	794,578	38.62	59	0	59	+7
			Malaysian Chinese Association	377,969	18.37	27	0	27	+8
			Malaysian Indian Congress	31,793	1.55	3	0	3	0
		Total		1,204,340	58.53	89	0	89	+15
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front		Labour Party of Malaya	212,546	10.33	2	0	2	–4
			Parti Ra'ayat	103,045	5.01	0	0	0	–2
			Parti Perhimpunan Kebangsaan	15,307	0.74	0	0	0	New
		Total		330,898	16.08	2	0	2	–6
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party			301,187	14.64	9	0	9	–4
	United Democratic Party			88,223	4.29	1	0	1	New
	People's Progressive Party			69,898	3.40	2	0	2	–2
	People's Action Party			42,130	2.05	1	12	13	New
	Parti Negara			7,319	0.36	0	0	0	–1
	United Sabah National Organisation						6	6	New
	Sarawak Heritage Party						6	6	New
	United National Kadazan Organisation						5	5	New
	Sarawak People's Front						5	5	New
	Sabah Chinese Association						4	4	New
	Sarawak National Party						4	4	New
	Sarawak Chinese Association						3	3	New
	Sarawak United Peoples' Party						3	3	New
	Parti Negara Sarawak						3	3	New
	Barisan Sosialis						3	3	New
	United Pasok Momogun Organisation						1	1	New
	Independents			13,509	0.66	0	0	0	–3
Total				2,057,504	100.00	104	55	159	+55

Valid votes				2,057,504	95.85
Invalid/blank votes				89,104	4.15
Total votes				2,146,608	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				2,682,416	80.03
Source: Nohlen et al., Singapore Elections^[usurped], Singapore Elections^[usurped]

By state

Johore


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance Party		United Malays National Organisation	123,911	47.94	11	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	61,502	23.80	5	0
		Total		185,413	71.74	16	0
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front		Labour Party of Malaya	50,568	19.56	0	0
			Parti Ra'ayat	6,710	2.60	0	0
		Total		57,278	22.16	0	0
	United Democratic Party			9,642	3.73	0	New
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party			3,673	1.42	0	0
	People's Action Party			2,456	0.95	0	New
Total				258,462	100.00	16	0

Valid votes				258,462	95.57
Invalid/blank votes				11,981	4.43
Total votes				270,443	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				334,359	80.88

Kedah


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance Party		United Malays National Organisation	139,169	56.46	10	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	29,826	12.10	2	0
		Total		168,995	68.56	12	0
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party			61,861	25.10	0	0
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front		Labour Party of Malaya	10,012	4.06	0	0
			Parti Ra'ayat	1,782	0.72	0	0
		Total		11,794	4.78	0	0
	United Democratic Party			3,849	1.56	0	New
Total				246,499	100.00	12	0

Valid votes				246,499	95.74
Invalid/blank votes				10,973	4.26
Total votes				257,472	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				336,858	76.43

Kelantan


Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party		118,770	56.86	8	-1
	Alliance Party	United Malays National Organisation	89,710	42.95	2	+1
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front	Parti Ra'ayat	414	0.20	0	New
Total			208,894	100.00	10	0

Valid votes			208,894	95.92
Invalid/blank votes			8,875	4.08
Total votes			217,769	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			271,731	80.14

Malacca


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance Party		United Malays National Organisation	35,541	34.64	2	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	32,357	31.54	2	+1
		Total		67,898	66.18	4	+1
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front		Parti Ra'ayat	16,820	16.39	0	0
			Labour Party of Malaya	10,658	10.39	0	0
		Total		27,478	26.78	0	0
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party			3,759	3.66	0	0
	People's Action Party			3,461	3.37	0	New
Total				102,596	100.00	4	0

Valid votes				102,596	96.98
Invalid/blank votes				3,192	3.02
Total votes				105,788	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				125,585	84.24

Negri Sembilan


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance Party		United Malays National Organisation	41,177	35.45	3	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	19,767	17.02	2	0
			Malaysian Indian Congress	7,911	6.81	1	0
		Total		68,855	59.27	6	0
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front		Labour Party of Malaya	19,433	16.73	0	0
			Parti Ra'ayat	7,051	6.07	0	0
		Total		26,484	22.80	0	0
	United Democratic Party			11,487	9.89	0	New
	People's Action Party			5,410	4.66	0	New
	People's Progressive Party			1,349	1.16	0	0
	Independents			2,578	2.22	0	0
Total				116,163	100.00	6	0

Valid votes				116,163	95.44
Invalid/blank votes				5,548	4.56
Total votes				121,711	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				152,114	80.01

Pahang


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance Party		United Malays National Organisation	74,323	71.08	5	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association			1	0
		Total				6	0
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front			18,996	18.17	0	0
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party			11,237	10.75	0	0
Total				104,556	100.00	6	0

Valid votes				104,556	95.13
Invalid/blank votes				5,358	4.87
Total votes				109,914	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				141,592	77.63

Penang


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance Party		United Malays National Organisation	57,615	28.02	4	+1
			Malaysian Chinese Association	39,589	19.25	2	0
		Total		97,204	47.27	6	+1
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front		Labour Party of Malaya	42,574	20.70	1	-2
			Parti Ra'ayat	22,412	10.90	0	0
		Total		64,986	31.60	1	-2
	United Democratic Party			37,151	18.07	1	New
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party			5,527	2.69	0	0
	People's Action Party			778	0.38	0	New
Total				205,646	100.00	8	0

Valid votes				205,646	97.21
Invalid/blank votes				5,902	2.79
Total votes				211,548	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				253,455	83.47

Perak


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance Party		United Malays National Organisation	99,122	24.79	9	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	113,164	28.31	8	+3
			Malaysian Indian Congress	9,855	2.47	1	0
		Total		222,141	55.57	18	+3
	People's Progressive Party			66,330	16.59	2	-2
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party			41,941	10.49	0	0
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front			32,339	8.09	0	0
	United Democratic Party			26,094	6.53	0	New
	Independents			10,931	2.73	0	-1
Total				399,776	100.00	20	0

Valid votes				399,776	95.84
Invalid/blank votes				17,344	4.16
Total votes				417,120	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				524,487	79.53

Perlis


Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance Party	United Malays National Organisation	23,007	63.25	2	0
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party		13,369	36.75	0	0
Total			36,376	100.00	2	0

Valid votes			36,376	95.88
Invalid/blank votes			1,564	4.12
Total votes			37,940	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			46,491	81.61

Selangor


Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance Party		Malaysian Chinese Association	68,932	25.44	5	+2
			United Malays National Organisation	63,043	23.26	6	+1
			Malaysian Indian Congress	14,027	5.18	1	0
		Total		146,002	53.88	12	+3
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front		Labour Party of Malaya	54,556	20.13	1	–2
			Parti Ra'ayat	16,347	6.03	0	–2
			Parti Perhimpunan Kebangsaan	15,307	5.65	0	0
		Total		86,210	31.81	1	–4
	People's Action Party			30,025	11.08	1	New
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party			6,528	2.41	0	0
	People's Progressive Party			2,219	0.82	0	0
Total				270,984	100.00	14	0

Valid votes				270,984	95.23
Invalid/blank votes				13,581	4.77
Total votes				284,565	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				388,211	73.30

Terrengganu


Party or alliance			Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance Party	United Malays National Organisation	60,792	56.52	5	+4
	Pan-Malayan Islamic Party		34,522	32.10	1	-3
	Parti Negara		7,319	6.81	0	-1
	Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front	Parti Ra'ayat	4,919	4.57	0	0
Total			107,552	100.00	6	0

Valid votes			107,552	95.74
Invalid/blank votes			4,786	4.26
Total votes			112,338	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			145,217	77.36

References

Citations

^ Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann (15 November 2001). Elections in Asia and the Pacific : A Data Handbook: Volume II: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific. OUP Oxford. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-19-924959-6.
^ Thor, Venessa (25 April 2014). "Flashback Friday: PAP wins 1 seat in Malaysian General Election on April 25, 1964". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
^ Haziq Mahmud, Aqil; S Bedi, Rashvinjeet. "IN FOCUS: Push for greater autonomy by Sabah and Sarawak is stronger than ever, but will they finally succeed?". CNA. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.

Sources

Smith, T. E. (1964). "Malaysia after the Election". The World Today. 20 (8): 351–357. ISSN 0043-9134.
Vasil, R.K. (January 1965). "The 1964 General Elections in Malaya". International Studies. 7 (1): 20–65. doi:10.1177/002088176500700102.