The establishment of the Federation of Malaya coupled with British crackdown on the Malay left-wing led the PKMM to disband in 1948, though many of its members would go on to play important roles in Malayan politics.

[3] The central committee consisted of: PKMM's inaugural conference ran from 30 November 1945 to 4 December 1945 and featured a wide variety of activists from diverse backgrounds including communists, royalists, nationalists, Islamic preachers, socialists, students and proponents of Malay culture and customs.

[4] The congress agreed that PKMM would be guided by the following goals: Mokhtaruddin Lasso's decision to leave Malaya for Indonesia in 1946[6] saw Burhanuddin Al-Helmy assume the position of party leader.

API was the first organisation to be banned and nationalist leaders such as Ahmad Boestamam, Ishak Haji Muhammad, Katijah Sidek and Burhanuddin Al-Helmy were imprisoned.

Others such as Shamsiah Fakeh, Wahi Anuwar and Musa Ahmad fled to the jungles and allied themselves with the community guerilla war against the British.