1959 Sarawak district council elections

After Sarawak became a crown colony on 1 July 1947, Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke, the then governor of Sarawak issued "Notes on the Development of Local Government in Sarawak". This led to the setting up of local authorities in Sarawak, financed by population-based capitation grants, customary taxes, and license fees. By 1957, local authorities covered all areas in Sarawak. In 1959, the crown colony government decided to standardise the rates-collecting system for all local authorities in Sarawak. The amount of rates collected was based on property values and matched by one or two-dollar government grants for every dollar collected in rates.^[5]

Sarawak (Constitution) Orders in Council, 1956 stipulated that the Council Negri should consist of 14 ex officio members, 24 elected members, four nominated members, and three standing members. Ex officio members were the chief secretary, the attorney-general, the finance secretary, the Residents of the five divisions, and six other government officers appointed by the Governor. The standing members were those who were appointed during the Brooke era and served in the colonial government. The seat of a standing member will remain vacant if it becomes empty. Elected and nominated members must be British subjects or British protected persons of at least 25 years old who have resided in Sarawak for 7 out of 10 years before the election. Elected members will be composed of members elected by the five Divisional Advisory Councils and three Urban Councils of Kuching, Sibu, and Miri.^[6]

Kuching Municipal Council held its first local council election on 4 November 1956.^[1] This was followed by the Sibu Urban District Council, which held its first local council election on 15 December 1957.^[7][8]

Before the election, the oldest political party in Sarawak, Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP) was founded in June 1959.^[9]