victorious by winning 43 out of 51 constituencies. However, victory was short-lived as they were later defeated in the Hong Lim by-election in April 1961 and the Anson by-election in July 1961. The PAP candidates lost to Ong Eng Guan and David Marshall in both by-elections. The PAP was also increasingly divided and these schisms became visible between 1960 and 1961. On 20 July 1961, left-wing members of the PAP defected from the PAP after Lee Kuan Yew's call for a motion of confidence in the government. Most of these members later formed the Barisan Sosialis (Barisan) on 30 July 1961, led by Lim Chin Siong. As many of the members who defected to the Barisan were prominent grassroots leaders, the Barisan had a strong support base and became a strong opposition party to the PAP. Given the Barisan's large support base, political onlookers speculated that the Barisan could potentially win the 1963 General Election. The British colonial records revealed that Lee Kuan Yew felt threatened by the powerful left-wing movements and had on several occasions tried to remove his opponents by invoking the PSSO to detain his opponents. Decolonisation and the formation of Malaysia The British believed that independence for Singapore should be granted with a merger with Malaya so that economic resources could be shared and that their concerns of Singapore becoming an "independent, predominantly Chinese polity" could be alleviated. The PAP, which was led by the English-educated Lee Kuan Yew, temporarily eased their fears in 1959. Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP also favoured merger with Malaya because the assistance of Malaya was required to suppress the growing left-wing which challenged the PAP, particularly in the wake of losing the two by-elections in 1961. Lee was adamant that communism could only be eradicated through merger. In his memoirs, Lee believed that the communist threat was real throughout the 1950s and 1960s in Singapore, and also perceived that Lim Chin Siong was one of the key communist leaders. Such sentiments were also evident in the Malayan government and it feared that a weakened PAP would become replaced by the radical Chinese left-wing groups and pose a threat to neighbouring Malaya which was predominantly Malay. Thus, Malaya slowly agreed to merger with Singapore, but on the pre-condition that communist sympathisers from the left-wing movements are arrested. On 27 May 1961, following the PAP's defeats in the two by-elections, Malayan