The stage was now set for the first election to the Federal Legislative Council. At stake were fifty-two seats. The Alliance had to win the majority of these seats if it were to form the government.

Although the Labour Party was contesting the election, it was obvious that the fight was between the Alliance and Dato Onn's new Party, The Party Negara. The government was, of course, backing Dato Onn and his party and it was known that Sir Donald MacGillivray was in continuous contact with Dato Onn by telephone from the King's House.

As far as the Alliance was concerned, the main question was who was to challenge Dato Onn, who was standing in a Johor constituency. The Tunku characteristically put up a trial balloon by spreading the rumour that Dato Sardon, the UMNO Youth Leader, was willing to sacrifice himself by taking on Dato Onn! When Sardon heard of it, he promptly denied the rumour because the fear of Onn was terrible and the shadow of Onn was dark. There remained only my brother Suleiman and I — members of my family were the only ones who could possibly take on Dato Onn — and so finally Suleiman offered to take up the challenge.

As long as I live, I shall never forget that election. It was the most hectic moment of my life and I am sure it was the same for the other Alliance leaders. Our headquarters in Johor Bahru worked around the clock and we concentrated especially on Dato Onn. When the results came out, not only did we win fifty-one out of fifty-two seats but Suleiman also defeated Dato Onn by a sizeable majority.

When the election was over, the first Alliance-dominated Executive Council was formed. The Tunku was made Chief Minister and Minister of Home Affairs; Razak, Minister of Education; I became Minister of Natural Resources; Suleiman, Minister of Local Government; Henry Lee, Minister of Transport; Aziz Ishak, Minister of Agriculture and Telecommunications; Sardon, Minister of Works and V.T. Sambanthan, Minister of Labour.

Our first task was to prepare for a trip to London to negotiate for independence.