Labour Party of Malaya
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Labour Party of Malaya
Parti Buruh Malaya |
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| Abbreviation | Lab, LPM |
| Leader | D. S. Ramanathan |
| Founded | June 1952 1st chairman = Lee Moke Sang |
| Dissolved | 6 September 1972 |
| Preceded by | Ex - Pan-Malayan Labour Party |
| Youth wing | Socialist Youth League of Malaya |
| Ideology | Democratic socialism |
| Political position | Centre-left to Left-wing |
| National affiliation | Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front (1957–66) |
| International affiliation |
Socialist International Asian Socialist Conference |
| Colours | Red, white |
The Labour Party of Malaya (Malay: Parti Buruh Malaya; Abbreviation: LPM) was a political party of Malaya that was active between 1952 and 1969. It was originally formed as a confederation of state based labour parties known as the Pan-Malayan Labour Party or PMLP.
The LPM's roots lay in the state labour parties that were established after the British government announced plans to organise local elections in 1950. In 1952, representatives from the state parties, 21 trade unions and the Malay left-leaning organisation SABERKAS (or Syarikat Berkerjasama Am Saiburi, not to be confused with the present day SABERKAS in Sarawak) met in Kuala Lumpur and decided to form the PMLP. This organisation initially took an anti-communist stand but was not overtly anti-colonial.
The party joined the Socialist International as a member.
The party chairman Lee Moke Sang was forced to resign as public servants were barred from political office. D.S. Ramanathan became the new chairman. With the rise of more radical socialist leadership, the positions gradually took a more anti-colonial form and in June 1954, the organisation was renamed the LPM.
With a radical agenda as its platform, the LPM was routed in the Federal legislative elections of 1955 and failed to gain any seats. The LPM, however, managed to capture the City Council of Georgetown in Penang in the 1956 local elections with a majority of eight seats.
According to the party's own accounts it had more or less the same number of Malay and Chinese members, but very few Indians or people from other communities. The party identified itself as a non-communal party. It considered that the Alliance government represented capitalist and feudal groups.
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