“The momentous victory gives us very much courage,”
said Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.
“I pray that God will give us help and shelter from adversity and that
Malaysia will continue to flourish and prosper in peace. To hell with
Sukarno.” It was quite a post-election statement, but justified in the sense that
the big issue at the polls had indeed been Sukarno and his vicious
guerrilla and propaganda offensives against the new Federation of
Malaysia. In a lively five-week campaign, heated slogans in Malay,
English, Tamil and four dialects of Chinese filled the air as
candidates ran for most of Malaysia's national Parliament and state
assembly seats. Charges flew that politicians were luring women voters
with love potions. More serious were charges that some of the parties
were playing into the hands of the Indonesians by opposing the Prime
Minister's stand against Sukarno. The Tunku aimed his sharpest shots at the Socialists, alleged that they
were cooperating with the Indonesian Communist Party; leftist workers
have become increasingly militant since the stoppage of trade by
Indonesia caused layoffs. But the Tunku also condemned the right-wing,
fanatical Moslem groups, who might be receptive to Indonesian arguments
because of their distaste for the multiracial, multireligious character of
the federation. Pressing hard for a decisive endorsement,
the Tunku exploited every appeal. He offered tidy development funds to
strategic regions. Two days before elections, the government published
a 64-page white paper charging an Indonesian plot to assassinate the
Prime Minister and annex most of Southeast Asia. Casting their ballots at 3,400 polling stations, voters gave Abdul
Rahman's policies landslide approval. His three-party, multiracial
Alliance won 89 of 104 seats at stake in the federal Parliament, 241
out of 282 seats in the state assemblies. In Indonesia, Sukarno
responded with irritation, blustered that he had “ordered all 21
million volunteers to hold simultaneous roll calls throughout Indonesia
to receive my command of action.”
