1959 Sarawak district council elections

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The first Sarawak district council elections were held at the end of 1959. [1] [2] [3] It was a multi-tiered system functioned to elect 24 members into Council Negri (now Sarawak State Legislative Assembly). [4]

Contents

Background

After Sarawak became a crown colony on 1 July 1947, Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke, the then governor of Sarawak issued "Notes on the Development of Local Government in Sarawak". This led to the setting up of local authorities in Sarawak, financed by population-based capitation grants, customary taxes, and license fees. By 1957, local authorities covered all areas in Sarawak. In 1959, the crown colony government decided to standardise the rates-collecting system for all local authorities in Sarawak. The amount of rates collected was based on property values and matched by one or two-dollar government grants for every dollar collected in rates. [5]

Sarawak (Constitution) Orders in Council, 1956 stipulated that the Council Negri should consist of 14 ex officio members, 24 elected members, four nominated members, and three standing members. Ex officio members were the chief secretary, the attorney-general, the finance secretary, the Residents of the five divisions, and six other government officers appointed by the Governor. The standing members were those who were appointed during the Brooke era and served in the colonial government. The seat of a standing member will remain vacant if it becomes empty. Elected and nominated members must be British subjects or British protected persons of at least 25 years old who have resided in Sarawak for 7 out of 10 years before the election. Elected members will be composed of members elected by the five Divisional Advisory Councils and three Urban Councils of Kuching, Sibu, and Miri. [6]

Before the election, the oldest political party in Sarawak, Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP) was founded in June 1959. [7]

Elections

This was the second general election after the first general election in 1956. Each ward functioned to elect three candidates into the respective councils. [1]

The elections of the Kuching Municipal Council were held on 15 November 1959, which consisted of 9 Wards with 27 seats up for grabs. A total of 52 candidates were competing for the seats. An election petition was filed in the Kuching High Court for the Market Ward, where two candidates tied for the 3rd place. A re-election of the Ward was held on 29 November 1959. After the elections, 15 councillors returned victorious out of 27 incumbent councillors. [1]

Aftermath

After the elections, all the 24 elected members from local councils started working on 1 January 1960, guided by a handbook on the duties of local authorities and councilors. [5]

After the electoral success of SUPP in Kuching urban and rural areas, the Datu Bandar called on all the Council Negri members who were not SUPP members to form an entirely new party with "an entirely different outlook than SUPP". [8] As a result, the political party named Parti Negara Sarawak (PANAS) was founded on 9 April 1960, 10 months after the formation of SUPP. [7] [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ah Chon, Ho (1963). Kuching 1950-1959 Sir Anthony Foster Abell's Era (PDF). Kuching: See Hua Daily News Bhd. pp. 62, 76. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  2. ↑ Milne, R.S (September 1965). "Political Parties in Sarawak and Sabah". Journal of Southeast Asian History. 6 (2): 104–117. doi:10.1017/S0217781100001915. JSTOR   20172800.
  3. ↑ Stockwell, A.J (2004). Malaysia. The Stationery Office. p. 591. ISBN   9780112905813 . Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  4. ↑ Ling, Sharon (3 February 2018). "Celebrating a proud legacy". The Star (Malaysia). Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  5. 1 2 Porritt, VL (1 January 2009). "Local government in Sarawak, 1963-1988: democratic local government won and then lost?". Borneo Research Bulletin. 40: 186–201. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023.
  6. ↑ Ping Hua, Yao (1960). "XIII - The Council Negri of Sarawak" (PDF). Journal of the Society of Clerks-At-The-Table in Commonwealth Parliaments. 29. London: Butterworth & Co Publishers Ltd: 77–78. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  7. 1 2 Milne, R. S. (1965). "Political Parties in Sarawak and Sabah". Journal of Southeast Asian History. 6 (2): 104–117. ISSN   0217-7811.
  8. 1 2 Leigh, Michael B. (1974). The Rising Moon: Political Change in Sarawak. Sydney University Press. p. 26. ISBN   9780424065908.
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