Malaysian general election, 1974

Malaysian general election, 1974

24 August – 14 September 1974

All 154 seats to the Dewan Rakyat 78 seats needed for a majority Registered 4,178,914 Turnout 2,220,186 (75.1%)   First party Second party Third party   SNAP Leader Abdul Razak Hussein Lim Kit Siang James Wong Party Barisan Nasional DAP SNAP Leader since 22 September 1970 October 1969 1963 Leader's seat Pekan Kota Melaka No seat Last election 74 seats, 44.3% 13 seats, 12.1% 9 seats, 2.7% Seats won 135 9 9 Seat change 61 4 Popular vote 1,287,400 387,845 117,566 Percentage 60.7% 18.3% 5.6% Swing 16.4% 6.2% 2.9%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   PSRM KITA Leader Tan Chee Khoon Party Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia Parti Keadilan Insan Tanah Air Leader since 1972 Leader's seat Kepong No seat No seat Last election New Party No seats, 1.1% New Party Seats won 1 No seats No seats Seat change Popular vote 105,718 84,206 8,623 Percentage 5.0% 4.0% 0.4%

Prime Minister before election Abdul Razak Hussein Barisan Nasional Prime Minister-designate Abdul Razak Hussein Barisan Nasional

A general election was held between Saturday, 24 August and Saturday, 14 September 1974 for members of the 4th Parliament of Malaysia.^[1] Voting took place in all 154 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. State elections also took place in 360 state constituencies in 12 (out of 13, except Sabah) states of Malaysia on the same day.

This result was a victory for Barisan Nasional (formerly the Alliance Party), which won 135 of the 154 seats. Voter turnout was 75.1%.

Once Parliament had been dissolved on 31 July 1974, the Election Commission fixed 8 August 1974, as Nomination Day and 24 August 1974, as Polling Day. (In Malaysia, the election campaign must last a minimum of two weeks.)

This was the first general election since the Alliance Party was replaced by the Barisan Nasional in 1973. It was also the only election when the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) participated as part of Barisan Nasional, which also marked the first time since independence the federal ruling party obtained a majority in the Kelantan State Legislative Assembly, forming the state government in Kelantan.

Candidates were returned unopposed in 47 constituencies. The 1,060,871 electors from these constituencies therefore did not cast ballots. Another 88 Front members were later successful, thus enabling their alliance to gain an overwhelming majority in the House. Altogether over 50 Opposition candidates lost their deposits.

Results

Dewan Rakyat

 Summary of the 24 August - 14 September 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results

Party				Vote		Seats
				Votes	%	Won	%	+/–
	National Front[lower-alpha 1]		BN	1,287,400	60.81	135	87.66	+61
		United Malays National Organisation	UMNO			62	40.26	+10
		Malaysian Chinese Association	MCA			19	12.34	+6
		Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party	PAS			13	8.44	+1
		United Sabah National Organisation	USNO			13	8.44	0
		United Traditional Bumiputera Party	PBB			8	5.19	New
		Sarawak United People's Party	SUPP			7	4.55	+2
		Malaysian People's Movement Party	Gerakan			5	3.25	-3
		Malaysian Indian Congress	MIC			4	2.60	+2
		Sabah Chinese Association	SCA			3	1.95	0
		People's Progressive Party	PPP			1	0.65	-3
	Democratic Action Party		DAP	387,845	18.32	9	5.84	-4
	Sarawak National Party		SNAP	117,566	5.55	9	5.84	0
	Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia		PEKEMAS	105,718	4.99	1	0.65	New
	Malaysian People's Socialist Party		PSRM	84,206	3.98	0	0.00	0
	Homeland Consciousness Union		KITA	8,623	0.41	0	0.00	New
	Independent People's Progressive Party		IPPP	1,356	0.06	0	0.00	New
	Independents		IND	124,202	5.87	0	0.00	-1
Valid votes				2,116,916
Invalid/blank votes				103,270
Total (turnout: 75.1%)				2,220,186	100.00	154	100.00	+10
Did not vote				1,958,728
Registered voters				4,178,914
Voting age population (aged 21 years and above)				5,625,000
Malaysian population				11,700,000
Source: Nohlen et al., IPU ,,

1. Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.

Results by state

Summary of the 24 August - 14 September 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results by state

Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Perlis Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 2 2 100.00 0 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 2 2 100.00 0 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 2 100.00 0 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Perlis's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Kedah Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 13 13 100.00 +4 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 8 8 61.54 +1 Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party PAS 3 3 23.08 0 Malaysian Chinese Association MCA 2 2 15.38 0 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 13 100.00 +1 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Kedah's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Kelantan Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 12 12 100.00 +6 Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party PAS 7 7 58.33 +1 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 5 5 41.67 +1 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 12 100.00 +2 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Kelantan's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Trengganu Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 7 7 100.00 +3 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 4 4 57.14 0 Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party PAS 3 3 42.86 +1 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 7 100.00 +1 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Trengganu's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Penang Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 9 117,349 56.24 9 100.00 +7 Malaysian Chinese Association MCA 3 46,226 22.15 3 33.33 +2 Malaysian People's Movement Party Gerakan 3 42,792 20.51 3 33.33 -2 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 3 28,331 13.58 3 33.33 +2 Democratic Action Party DAP 7 51,025 24.45 0 0.00 -1 Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia PEKEMAS 7 26,640 12.77 0 0.00 New Malaysian People's Socialist Party PSRM 6 12,409 5.95 0 0.00 0 Homeland Consciousness Union KITA 1 1,235 0.59 0 0.00 New Valid votes 208,658 Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 9 100.00 +1 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Penang's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Perak Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 21 17 80.95 +8 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 11 52.38 +4 Malaysian Chinese Association MCA 2 9.52 +1 Malaysian People's Movement Party Gerakan 2 9.52 +1 Malaysian Indian Congress MIC 1 4.76 0 People's Progressive Party PPP 1 4.76 -3 Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party PAS 1 4.76 0 Democratic Action Party DAP 4 19.05 -1 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 21 100.00 +1 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Perak's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Pahang Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 8 8 100.00 +2 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 7 7 87.50 +2 Malaysian Chinese Association MCA 1 1 12.50 0 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 8 100.00 +2 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Pahang's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Selangor Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 11 10 90.91 +1 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 5 5 45.45 -1 Malaysian Chinese Association MCA 5 4 36.36 +2 Malaysian Indian Congress MIC 1 1 9.09 0 Democratic Action Party DAP 1 9.09 -2 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 11 100.00 -3 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Selangor's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers. Template:Malaysian general election, 1974 (Kuala Lumpur)  Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Negri Sembilan Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 6 5 83.33 +2 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 3 3 50.00 0 Malaysian Chinese Association MCA 2 1 16.67 +1 Malaysian Indian Congress MIC 1 1 16.67 +1 Democratic Action Party DAP 1 16.67 -2 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 6 100.00 0 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Negri Sembilan's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Malacca Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 4 3 75.00 0 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 2 2 50.00 0 Malaysian Chinese Association MCA 2 1 25.00 0 Democratic Action Party DAP 1 25.00 0 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 4 100.00 0 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Malacca's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Johore Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 16 16 100.00 0 United Malays National Organisation UMNO 11 11 68.75 0 Malaysian Chinese Association MCA 5 5 31.25 0 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 16 100.00 0 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Johore's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August – 7 September 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Sabah Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 16 16 100.00 New United Sabah National Organisation USNO 13 13 81.25 0 Sabah Chinese Association SCA 3 3 18.75 0 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 16 100.00 0 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Sabah's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.  Summary of the 24 August – 14 September 1974 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results in Sarawak Party Candidates Vote Seats Votes % Won % +/– National Front[lower-alpha 1] BN 24 15 62.50 New United Traditional Bumiputera Party PBB 16 8 33.33 New Sarawak United People's Party SUPP 8 7 29.17 +2 Sarawak National Party SNAP 24 9 37.50 0 Valid votes Invalid/blank votes Total votes (voter turnout: %) ' 100.00 24 100.00 0 Did not vote Registered voters ' Voting age population (aged 21 years and above) ' Sarawak's population ' Source: Contested using dacing election symbol on the ballot papers.

State Assemblies

Opposition

After the election, Sarawak National Party (SNAP) became the largest opposition party in the Malaysian parliament and James Wong was appointed the opposition leader. After 2 months, he was detained under Internal Security Act. Datuk Seri Edmund Langgau Anak Saga from the SNAP party later succeeded him. James Wong was detained for almost two years before negotiation led by Datuk Amar Leo Moggie Anak Irok resulting in SNAP joining the Barisan Nasional.

References

1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p152 ISBN 0-19-924959-8