The Alliance Party ( ms, Parti Perikatan) was a political

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. The Alliance Party, whose membership comprised

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...

(UMNO),

Malaysian Chinese Association The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; zh, 马来西亚华人公会; ; ta, மலேசிய சீனர் சங்கம், initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that seeks to ...

(MCA) and

Malaysian Indian Congress The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC; ta, மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ், Malēciya Intiya Kāṅkiras; formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress) is a Malaysian political party. It is one of the founding membe ...

(MIC), was formally registered as a political organisation on 30 October 1957. It was the ruling coalition of Malaya from 1957 to 1963, and Malaysia from 1963 to 1973. The coalition became the

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...

in 1973.

History

Origin

The Alliance Party had its origin in an ''ad hoc'' and temporary electoral arrangement set up between the local branches of

UMNO The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...

and

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gen ...

to contest the

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

municipal election in 1952. The UMNO-MCA candidates won in 9 of the 12 seats contested, beating the non-communal Independence of Malaya Party (IMP) which won 2 seats and

Selangor Labour Party The Selangor Labour Party ( Malay: ''Parti Buruh Selangor'') was a political party in Selangor, Malaya. The party was founded on 22 December 1951. As of 1953, K.C. Chia was the chairman of the party, A. Tharmalingam the secretary and M. Arokiasamy ...

which won none. Their success in this election led to firmer association between the two parties and further successes in other municipal elections that the UMNO-MCA alliance contested (apart from Penang where UMNO was allied with the Muslim League). In 1954, the alliance was joined by MIC that previously supported IMP. Although for a time other parties were also associated with the Alliance Party, the three parties (UMNO, MCA, MIC) remained the core of the coalition until 1971. In 1955, in the first

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

for the Federal Legislative Council in what was then the British

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its in ...

of the

Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Straits Settlements, Penang and Malacca)''See' ...

, the UMNO-MCA-MIC Alliance successfully gained the great majority of seats available for contest, winning 51 of the 52 seats contested with a vote of 81.7%. It formally registered as a political organisation on 30 October 1957.

1957–1972

The Alliance played an important role in negotiating the transition from British rule to

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

, and facilitating the preparation of its constitution. After the Malaya had gained independence on 31 August 1957, the

General Election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

was held in 1959. The Alliance won 51.5% of the popular vote and 74 of the 104 seats contested, defeating the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PMIP, 21.2%) and the Socialist Front coalition (13%). The Alliance was also credited with securing the formation of the

Federation of Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malays ...

on 16 September 1963. After Malaysia came into being, the Alliance Party of the

Malay peninsula The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The ar ...

became closely associated with other alliance parties in

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

and

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

. In the 1964 general election, boosted by the formation of Malaysia and the subsequent confrontation with Indonesia, the Alliance Party was even more successful, winning a majority (58.4%) of the votes and securing 89 of the 104 seats contested. The Alliance had strong support among rural Malays (apart from the east coast of Malaysia where support for PMIP was still significant), while other opposition parties had support among the Chinese urban population. In the 1969 general election, although the Alliance Party won the most seats, it garnered less than half the popular vote due to strong challenges from the opposition parties, in particular the newly formed Democratic Action Party and Gerakan. PMIP also gained support at the expense of UMNO but the number of seats gained was smaller. The unease and anxiety after the election led to the May 13 riots, and the declaration of a state of emergency. After the Malaysian Parliament reconvened in 1971, negotiations began with former opposition parties such as Gerakan and People's Progressive Party, both of which joined the Alliance in 1972, quickly followed by PMIP. In 1973, the Alliance Party was formally replaced by

, a coalition of 9 parties, and the Barisan Nasional was registered in June 1974 to contest the 1974 general election.

Component parties

Alliance Party (Malaya) *

(UMNO) (1952-1973) *

(MCA) (1952-1973) *

(MIC) (1954-1973) * People's Progressive Party (PPP) (1954-1955, 1972-1973) * Radical Party (1954-1959) * Muslim League (1954-1963) * Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) (1972-1973) *

Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS ...

(PMIP) (1972-1973) Sabah Alliance * United National Kadazan Organisation (UNKO) (1963-1964) * United Pasokmomogun Kadazan Organisation (UPKO) (1964-1967) * United Sabah National Organisation (USNO) (1963-1976) *

Sabah Chinese Association The Sabah Chinese Association ( ms, Persatuan Cina Sabah, SCA) was a Chinese political party in the North Borneo and the Sabah state of Malaysia. History The party was established in October 1962 as Borneo Utara National Party, a merger of th ...

(SCA) (1963-1976) * Sabah Indian Congress (SIC) (1963-1976) Sabah Alliance was a component party of Barisan Nasional from 1973 to several months before 1976 Sabah election. In that state election, Sabah Alliance clashed with federal BN-supported BERJAYA party. It disbanded after the election. USNO and BERJAYA joined Barisan Nasional after Double-Six Accident Sarawak Alliance *

Sarawak National Party The Sarawak National Party known by its acronym as "SNAP", is now a defunct political party in Malaysia. It was a member party of the Alliance Party from 1963 to 1966 and a member of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition from 1976 until its expulsion ...

(SNAP) (1962-1966) * Sarawak Chinese Association (SCA) (1962-1973) * Sarawak Nation Party (PANAS) (1962-1963, 1965-1968) * Sarawak Native People's Front (BARJASA) (1962-1968) * Sarawak Native Heritage Party (PESAKA) (1962-1969) * Native People's Party (BUMIPUTERA) (1968-1973) * Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP) (1970-1973) (allied party) Singapore Alliance (1963-1965) *

(UMNO) *

(MCA) *

(MIC) * Singapore People's Alliance (SPA)

Elected representatives

* List of Malayan State and Settlement Council Representatives (1954–59) *

Members of the Federal Legislative Council (1955–59) Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries ...

Members of the Dewan Rakyat, 1st Malayan Parliament This is a list of the members of the Dewan Rakyat The Dewan Rakyat (English: 'House of Representatives'; ) is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, the federal legislature of Malaysia. The chamber and its powers are established by A ...

List of Malaysian State Assembly Representatives (1959–64) A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...

Members of the Dewan Rakyat, 2nd Malaysian Parliament This is a list of the members of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) of the 2nd Parliament of Malaysia The Parliament of Malaysia ( ms, Parlimen Malaysia) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. Th ...

List of Malaysian State Assembly Representatives (1964–69) A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...

Members of the Dewan Rakyat, 3rd Malaysian Parliament This is a list of the members of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) of the 3rd Parliament of Malaysia, elected in 1969. From 1969 to 1971, the National Operations Council The National Operations Council (NOC) or Majlis Gerakan Neg ...

List of Malaysian State Assembly Representatives (1969–74) A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...

General election results

State election results

References

{{Malaysian political parties 1952 establishments in Malaya Defunct political party alliances in Malaysia Political parties disestablished in 1973 Political parties established in 1952