Malaysian Social Justice Party Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia PEKEMAS | |
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| Abbreviation | PEKEMAS |
| Founder | Veerappen Veerathan Tan Chee Khoon Syed Hussein Alatas |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Dissolved | 1982 |
| Split from | Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia |
| Headquarters | Kuala Lumpur[citation needed], Malaysia |
| Ideology | Socialism |
| Political position | Left-wing |
| Colours | Red, White, and Green[1] |
| This article is part ofa series on the |
| Politics of Malaysia |
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Malaysian Social Justice Party or (Malay:Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia) (PEKEMAS) was a political party formed byTan Chee Khoon andSyed Hussein Alatas in 1972. On 19 July 1974,Parti Marhaen Malaysia merged with the party.[2] The party was dissolved in 1982.[3]
The party were formed byTan Chee Khoon,Syed Hussein Alatas andVeerappen Veerathan[4][5] in 1972 afterParti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia co-founderLim Chong Eu led Gerakan into the newly expandedAlliance (renamed as theBarisan Nasional or National Front).[6] Tan strongly opposed this move because he felt it endorsed the race-based parties in Barisan Nasional. PEKEMAS was a non-communal party and formed based on principles similar to the original Gerakan.[7][8][9] They were joined by another Gerakan MPV. David.[10]
Despite this, Tan supported the controversial government-supportedNew Economic Policy, which expanded the privileges given toBumiputra (Malays and other indigenous people) underArticle 153 of the Constitution because he felt tougheraffirmative action was required to address Malay poverty.[11] On 19 July 1974, the smallerParti Marhaen Malaysia, which was led by formerSocialist Front leaderAhmad Boestamam, merged into the party.
In the1974 general election,[12][13] PEKEMAS suffered a terrible defeat, with Tan being the only successful candidate out of 36 candidates for Parliament, while Ong Yi How was the only winner in state polls, winning inBagan Jermal.[14][15]
PEKEMAS' campaign against the government was predicated on denying them the requisite 2/3 majority for amending the Constitution, which Tan opposed. TheDemocratic Action Party and theSarawak National Party became the largest opposition parties in Parliament, with nine seats each. This effectively hamstrung Tan's and PEKEMAS' agenda in Parliament.[16] Tan announced his retirement from politics in 1977, although he held his Parliamentary seat until his term expired the next year.
The party’s demise was also hastened by the defection of its chairman Ahmad Boestamam back to theParti Rakyat Malaysia[17] after1978 general elections.[18] The party further shrank in 1979 due to most of PEKEMAS' supporters defecting to the DAP.[11][19][20][21] It managed to field a candidate in the1982 general elections before its dissolution.[22]
| # | Name | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tan Chee Khoon | 1972 | 1977 |
| 2 | Ahmad Boestamam | 1977 | 1978 |
| Election | Total seats won | Seats contested | Total votes | Share of votes | Outcome of election | Election leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 1 / 154 | 36[23] | 105,718 | 4.99% |  1 seats;Opposition | Tan Chee Khoon |
| 1978 | 0 / 154 | 33 | 23,792 | 0.68% |  1 seats;No representation in Parliament | Ahmad Boestamam |
| 1982 | 0 / 154 | 33 | 619 | 0.01% |  ;No representation in Parliament | Shaharuddin Dahlan |
| State election | State Legislative Assembly | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penang State Legislative Assembly | Perak State Legislative Assembly | Pahang State Legislative Assembly | Selangor State Legislative Assembly | Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly | Malacca State Legislative Assembly | Johor State Legislative Assembly | Sabah State Legislative Assembly | Total won / Total contested | |
| 1974 | 1 / 27 | 0 / 42 | 0 / 32 | 0 / 33 | 0 / 24 | 0 / 20 | 0 / 32 | 1 / 94 | |
| 1976 | 0 / 48 | 0 / 11 | |||||||
| 1978 | 0 / 33 | 0 / 11 | |||||||
| 1982 | 0 / 42 | 0 / 1 | |||||||
