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Further Reading

Malaysia Government

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, nominally headed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, customarily referred to as the king. The full title for His Majesty is Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Kings are elected for 5-year terms from among the nine sultans of the peninsular Malaysian states in accordance with a rotating succession system determined by the Conference of Rulers. The king also is the leader of the Islamic faith in Malaysia. His Majesty holds the position of Islamic Religious Head for the States of Penang, Malacca, Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territories. The King performs his official duties upon the advice of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet as provided for by the Constitution. As Malaysia's Supreme Head of State, the King is also the Supreme Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces.

Executive power is vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister; the Malaysian constitution stipulates that the prime minister must be a member of the lower house of parliament who, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commands a majority in parliament. The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of parliament and is responsible to that body.

The bicameral parliament consists of the Senate (Dewan Negara) and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat). All 70 Senate members sit for 3-year terms, which are normally extended for an additional 3 years; 26 are elected by the 13 state assemblies, and 44 are appointed by the king following the prime minister's recommendation. Representatives of the House are elected from single-member districts by universal adult suffrage. The 222 members of the House of Representatives are elected to parliamentary terms lasting up to 5 years. Legislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures.

The Malaysian legal system is based on English common law. The Federal Court reviews decisions referred from the Court of Appeal; it has original jurisdiction in constitutional matters and in disputes between states or between the federal government and a state. Peninsular Malaysia and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak each have a high court.

The constitution states that parliamentary constituencies should have approximately equal numbers of eligible voters; however, in practice the numbers varied significantly. For example, the Putra Jaya constituency had 6,606 voters, while in Kuala Lumpur, the Seputih constituency had 76, 891 voters. In Perak, Gopeng had 74,344 voters compared with Lenggong, with only 23,223 voters.

Over the years power increasingly has been concentrated in the prime minister, and Parliament's function as a deliberative body has deteriorated. Parliament rarely amended or rejected government proposed legislation and did not give legislation proposed by the opposition serious consideration. Parliamentary procedures allow the speaker of parliament to suspend members, establish restrictions on tabling questions, edit written copies of members' speeches before delivery, and severely restrict members' opportunities to question and debate government policies. With the increased number of opposition MPs, government officials often faced sharp questioning in Parliament, and the press reported in greater detail than in the past. For example, during 2008 the government initiated 30-minute live telecasts of parliament's daily question-and-answer period.

The federal government has authority over external affairs, defense, internal security, justice (except civil law cases among Malays or other Muslims and other indigenous peoples, adjudicated under Islamic and traditional law), federal citizenship, finance, commerce, industry, communications, transportation, and other matters.

Malaysia practices a system of government based on Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy at two levels, Federal and State levels. At the state level the head (Ruler) of State is either the Sultan, Raja, or Yang di-Pertuan Besar, and the Yang di-Pertua Negeri is the head of State where there are no Rulers: the Chief Ministers (Menteri Besar/Ketua Menteri) are the heads of government.