Alliance Party

The Alliance Party was a political coalition in Malaysia. The Alliance Party, whose membership comprised United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (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 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 and MCA to contest the Kuala Lumpur 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 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, these three parties (UMNO, MCA, MIC) remained the core of the coalition until 1971. In 1955, in the first general election for the Federal Legislative Council in what was then the British protectorate of the Federation of Malaya, 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.