Parti Rakyat Brunei
Parti Rakyat Brunei is a political party established in Brunei in 1956 and modeled on Malaya's left-leaning Parti Rakyat Malaya. Independence for Brunei, a British protectorate since 1888, was its main agenda. Although it did not favor dissolution of the sultanate, the PRB wanted national leadership to shift from the palace to the rakyat (people) through democratization in the government.
The PRB rejected the notion of membership in federation with Malaysia, proposed by Malaya's Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj in 1961, believing that entry into Malaysia would dash all hopes of a revival of Brunei hegemony and would result in the loss of Brunei's unique identity. At the time, the PRB's membership of 26,000 people represented more than a quarter of Brunei's population; nevertheless, the government of Brunei favored federation with Malaysia. On 5 December 1962, the PRB submitted a motion demanding Sarawak and British North Borneo be returned to Brunei, that a federation of the three British Borneo territories be created, that Brunei reject entry into Malaysia, and that Brunei become independent in 1963. The motion was rejected, and the PRB launched a coup that it had originally planned for April or May of 1963. British forces quashed the rebellion, and Sultan Omar Ali Saiffuddin III of Brunei declared a state of emergency and outlawed the PRB. Some 3,000 PRB participants in the revolt were captured; others fled abroad. A. M. Azahari (Sheikh Ahmad Azahari bin Sheikh Mahmud, b. 1929), leader of the PRB, was in Manila when the revolt occurred; he sought refuge in Jakarta.
On 13 July 1973 PRB detainees who had refused to renounce the party staged a dramatic escape and reconstituted the party in exile. In December, an Ad Hoc Committee for the Independence of Brunei was established in Kuala Lumpur. Subsequently on 7 May 1974, the PRB was formally reactivated with the naming of an executive committee with Azahari as president.
Throughout the 1970s the PRB actively garnered moral and material support from various quarters, including the United Nations, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The PRB's perseverance resulted in a U.N. resolution on Brunei (13 November 1975) that established principles of succession and legitimacy that any government established in Brunei should meet. However, despite Brunei's independence from Britain on 31 December 1983, the PRB continued to be outlawed, and several detainees remained in custody. PRB leaders remained in exile. The PRB is now dormant, and its political future is uncertain.
Further Reading
Hussainmiya, Bachamiya Abdul. (1995) Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin III and Britain. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.
Ranjit Singh, D. S. (1991) Brunei 1839–1983: The Problems of Political Survival. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oxford University Press.
Saunders, Graham. (1994) A History of Brunei. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Oxford University Press.
Zaini Haji Ahmad, ed. (1987) Partai Rakyat Brunei: The People's Party of Brunei. Selected Documents/Dokumen Terpilih. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: INSAN.
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