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Held during Konfrontasi with Indonesia; Alliance strengthened.

25 April 1964144 seats73 for a majority

“Alliance/BN” held 89 of 144 seats — past the 73 needed to govern.

Alliance/BN89
Other46
PAS-led9

No seat map before 2008. The chamber above is from a checked historical table.

The road here

Parliament was dissolved on 1 March, leaving 55 days until polling on 25 April. Malaysia was less than a year old, and the federal election did not directly elect the representatives from Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore; Vasil’s contemporary study therefore treated the contest as one in mainland Malaya.

Konfrontasi was part of the political setting. One Alliance figure whose campaign language is on the record is Penang Chief Minister Wong Pow Nee, who told an Alliance gathering that the election concerned democracy’s survival.

The PAP also entered mainland Malayan contests. In Kuala Lumpur, Lee Kuan Yew said it would field nine candidates and asked urban voters to support social and economic change.

The Alliance’s 89 seats were 15 more than its 1959 total of 74. Tunku Abdul Rahman remained Prime Minister; the new Dewan Rakyat was sitting by 21 May 1964.

What the sources say

The first Parliament was dissolved on 1 March 1964; polling for GE2 took place on 25 April 1964.

Parliament of Malaysia

The election was held soon after the formation of Malaysia and during Indonesia’s Konfrontasi. R. K. Vasil’s contemporary study states that its scope was mainland Malaya because the 55 representatives from Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore were then selected by their state legislatures rather than direct federal election.

R. K. Vasil

In a 22 March campaign speech in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said the PAP was fielding nine parliamentary candidates in Malaya and presented its campaign as one for social and economic change.

Singapore National Archives

In contemporaneous reporting, Penang Chief Minister Wong Pow Nee told Alliance leaders that the coming parliamentary and state elections would decide “the death or survival of democracy” in the country.

The Straits Times

The Alliance won 89 seats in GE2; a contemporary parliamentary record identifies Tunku Abdul Rahman as Prime Minister at the Dewan Rakyat sitting of 21 May 1964.

ElectionData.MYParliament of Malaysia

Compared with the 1959 federal election, when the Alliance won 74 of 104 seats, the Alliance’s 1964 total was 15 seats higher. The 74-seat 1959 figure comes from the New Straits Times retrospective; the 89-seat 1964 figure comes from ElectionData.MY, and the comparison is arithmetic across the two.

New Straits TimesElectionData.MY

The 1964 election directly elected 104 mainland members. The remaining 55 House members from Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore entered through selection by their state legislatures, so a single chamber total combines directly elected and indirectly selected representatives.

R. K. Vasil

Why, and who says so

Explanations for a result are arguments, not facts.

Did Konfrontasi explain the Alliance’s stronger result?

Electoral-system scholar Wong Chin Huat argued retrospectively that the confrontation with Indonesia strengthened Alliance support because voters rallied behind it in response to a foreign threat. A post-election Labour Party statement, reproduced by R. K. Vasil, instead alleged that the Alliance used the Indonesia issue and state machinery to create fear and win votes.

Malaysian BarR. K. Vasil

advanced by Wong Chin Huat, who wrote retrospectively that Konfrontasi strengthened Alliance support as voters rallied behind the coalition.

Malaysian Bar

advanced by the Labour Party in a post-election statement, which alleged that the Alliance used security incidents and the Indonesia issue to create fear among voters.

R. K. Vasil

advanced by R. K. Vasil, who attributed a shift he discussed among Indian voters to Tunku Abdul Rahman’s support for India during the 1962 China–India war and to opposition parties’ non-committal stance.

R. K. Vasil

← GE1 (1959)GE3 (1969) →

Common questions

When was GE2 held?

GE2 polling took place on 25 April 1964, after the first Parliament was dissolved on 1 March 1964. The period between dissolution and polling was 55 days.

Parliament of Malaysia

Was GE2 held across all of Malaysia?

No. GE2 directly elected 104 members in mainland Malaya, while the 55 representatives from Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore entered the House through selection by their state legislatures. A total for the House therefore combined directly elected and indirectly selected representatives.

R. K. Vasil

What was happening when GE2 was held?

GE2 was held soon after the formation of Malaysia and during Indonesia’s Konfrontasi. In the campaign, Penang Chief Minister Wong Pow Nee told an Alliance gathering that the coming parliamentary and state elections would decide the country’s democratic survival.

R. K. VasilThe Straits Times

Did the PAP contest GE2 in mainland Malaya?

Yes. In a 22 March 1964 speech in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said the PAP would field nine parliamentary candidates in Malaya. He presented the campaign as one for social and economic change.

Singapore National Archives

Who won GE2 and who was Prime Minister afterwards?

The Alliance won 89 seats in GE2, 15 more than its 74 seats in the 1959 federal election. Tunku Abdul Rahman remained Prime Minister, and the new Dewan Rakyat was sitting by 21 May 1964.

ElectionData.MYNew Straits TimesParliament of Malaysia

Why did the Alliance win more seats than in 1959?

The file records different explanations. Wong Chin Huat wrote retrospectively that Konfrontasi strengthened Alliance support as voters rallied behind the coalition in response to a foreign threat. In a post-election statement reproduced by R. K. Vasil, the Labour Party said the Alliance used the Indonesia issue and security incidents to create fear among voters.

Malaysian BarR. K. Vasil