Brunei People's Party
Party Rakyat Brunei (PRB) |
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Leader | A.M. Azahari |
Founder | H.M. Salleh |
Founded | 1926 |
Dissolved | 1962/1963 (Brunei) |
Preceded by | Malayan People's Party (MPP) |
Headquarters | Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei |
Military | North Kalimantan National Army (TNKU) |
Members | 4,000-6,000 by 1960s |
Ideology | Socialism |
Political position | Left-wing |
The Brunei People's Party (Parti Rakyat Brunei, PRB) is a banned political party in Brunei. PRB was established as a left leaning party in 1956 and aimed to bring Brunei into full independence from the United Kingdom. The party sought to democratise the government by shifting the national leadership from the palace to the people.
Brunei People's Party was established, initially, as a branch of the Malayan People's Party (MPP) on 21 January 1956, at the house owned by a prominent leader, H.M. Salleh at Kampong Kianggeh, Brunei Town, two months after MPP was founded in Malaya. About 150 people attended the event. Some of them include Manan bin Muhammad, Muhammad bin Sulaiman, Zaini bin Haji Ahmad, Jais bin Haji Karim, Muhammad Jamaluddin, H.B. Hidup and Jasin bin Affandy. The meeting was chaired by A.M. Azahari, and assisted by H.M. Salleh.
In early July 1955, A.M. Azahari had visited the Malay Peninsula and Singapore. While in Singapore, he met with a well-known political figure, Harun Muhammad Amin (Harun Aminurrashid). He was once blacklisted by the British administration in Malaya and Brunei. The meeting had substantially affected his minds and actions.
A.M. Azahari also met several leaders of radical Malays such as Burhanuddin al-Helmy, Ishak Haji Muhammad and Harun Muhammad Amin at the house of Ahmad Boestaman at Kampong Baru, Kuala Lumpur.
In 1961, PRB rejected the proposal for membership in federation with Malaysia, proposed by Malaya's Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman even though the government of Brunei was favourable to the federation. On 12 January 1962, PRB leader A.M. Azahari was appointed to the Brunei Legislative Council and PRB won all 16 of the elected seats in the 33 seat legislature in August 1962.
The first meeting of the Legislative Council was scheduled on 5 December 1962 and PRB stated that it would submit a resolution for the return of British North Borneo and Sarawak to Brunei to form an independent state known as the North Borneo Federation, the rejection of Brunei's entry into Malaysia and the independence of Brunei in 1963. Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin III rejected this proposed resolution and postponed the opening of the Legislative Council to 19 December 1962.