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| founder of Parti Melayu (S46) |
Parti Melayu Semangat 46 or Spirit of 46 Malay Party (S46) is a now defunct Malaysian political party. The party was formed in 1988 under the leadership of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who felt capable of mounting a realistic challenge to the dominance of then UMNO under Mahathir's leadership and its electoral vehicle, the Barisan Nasional. Razaleigh's confidence was also partly attributed to the personal support which he was endorsed from former prime ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman and Hussein Onn, both of whom had also fallen apart with Mahathir
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| Rais Yatim: when he the struggle for S(46) |
The idea of Semangat 46 first came about in 1985 or 1986 when Malaysia was experiencing an economic recession. Following Razaleigh's expulsion in 1987, Razaleigh headed to form a political party the following year.This new party brought over many UMNO top leaders who were supportive of Razaleigh, aptly known as "Team B". Other UMNO leaders who were supportive of Mahathir made up "Team A"–divisions which were immediately drawn after the presidential elections in January 1987. By February 1988, such distinctions were clearly cut as Razaleigh decided to name his faction "UMNO 46" to reflect the spirit which the party was founded in 1946, while Mahathir decided to name his faction "UMNO (Baru)", tagging along much of the parties' administrative documents. However, since "UMNO 46" was denied registration on the basis of a duplicate name, Razaleigh decided to settle on the name "Semangat 46". On June 3, 1989, Semangat 46 was officially registered with the electoral college.
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| The moment of Tunku at the side of S(46) |
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| Only living memories... |
In 1990, the party forged a double coalition with other opposition parties to contest in the 1990 Malaysian general election; with the multi-racial parties it forged one coalition, Gagasan Rakyat with the Democratic Action Party and Parti Rakyat Malaysia. With the Muslim parties it forged another alliance, Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah with PAS, BERJASA, HAMIM and the newly-formed Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress. It was with the latter Muslim alliance Angkatan won all 39 state seats in Kelantan to form the state government, with 24 going to PAS and 15 for Semangat 46.
However, support for the party gradually eroded as many of Semangat 46 members began to defect to UMNO particularly from 1991-92, among which this included the party's youth chief Ibrahim Ali. Others, while remaining as members of the party chose to withdraw from active participation of politics. The party was renamed as Parti Melayu Semangat 46 in February 1994, when Semangat 46 decided to challenge UMNO on Malay communal issues, and at the same time sacrificing its multi-ethnic stance.
In the mid 1990s, Semangat 46 experienced a deteriorating relationship with DAP and eventually leading to the breakup of the Gagasan Rakyat coalition shortly before the 1995 Malaysian general election. The party, at the same time was also experiencing increasingly strained ties with PAS over the share of control of the state of Kelantan, although they still managed to retain control of Kelantan and were still able to work together in the election. By this time, the party's credibility was also severely compromised by its occasional victories which it has won in its elections coupled with the loss of many key figures. The deputy president, Rais Yatim, lost his parliamentary seat in the 1995 election, although Tengku Razaleigh still managed to retain control of his parliamentary seat. In the end, the party did manage to secure six parliamentary seats, with support coming mainly from Razaleigh's home state in Kelantan In May 1996, Semangat 46, by now greatly reduced in size and influence, Razaleigh officially announced to his remaining 200,000 members that he would disband the party, which was done so in October, and rejoined UMNO with most of the party members, while others who were denied re-admission either left politics altogether or joined PAS.
Ex-leader for Parti Melayu Semangat 46
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| Ibrahim Ali |
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| Rais Yatim |
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| Ahmad Shabery Chik |
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