Politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of a federal representative democratic constitutional monarchy, in which the

Yang di-Pertuan Agong The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The of ...

is head of state and the

Prime Minister of Malaysia The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the feder ...

is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the federal government and the 13 state governments. Legislative power is vested in the federal parliament and the 13 state assemblies. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, though the executive maintains a certain level of influence in the appointment of judges to the courts. The

Constitution of Malaysia The Federal Constitution of Malaysia ( ms, Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia) which was promulgated on 16 September 1963, is the supreme law of Malaysia and contains a total of 183 articles. It is a written legal document which was preceded ...

is codified and the system of government is based on the Westminster system. The hierarchy of authority in Malaysia, in accordance to the Federal Constitution, stipulates the three branches (administrative components) of the Malaysian government as consisting of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branch. Whereas, the Parliament consists of the ''Dewan Negara'' (Upper House/Senate) and ''Dewan Rakyat'' (Lower House/House of Representatives).Jeong Chun Hai @Ibrahim, & Nor Fadzlina Nawi. (2012). ''Principles of Public Administration: Malaysian Perspectives.'' Kuala Lumpur: Pearson Publishers. Malaysia has had a multi-party system since the first direct election of the Federal Legislative Council of

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

in 1955 on a first-past-the-post basis. The ruling party was the Alliance Party ( ms, Parti Perikatan) coalition and from 1973 onwards, its successor, the

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...

(National Front) coalition. Together with its predecessor, the Barisan Nasional (BN) government served for 61 years and was one of the world's longest serving governments until it lost power to the

Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...

(PH) coalition in the 14th general election that was held on 9 May 2018. Following the 2020–22 Malaysian political crisis, the Perikatan Nasional government served from 1 March 2020 to 17 August 2021 when

withdrew support and left the coalition. Barisan Nasional has ruled Malaysia since then with Perikatan Nasional,

Sarawak Parties Alliance The Sarawak Parties Alliance ( Malay: ''Gabungan Parti Sarawak''; abbrev: GPS) is a Sarawak-based national political alliance in Malaysia. It was established in 2018 by four former Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties operating solely in S ...

(GPS),

Malaysian Nation Party Parti Bangsa Malaysia (English: ''Malaysian Nation Party'', abbreviated PBM), is a registered centre-right political party in Malaysia. The party was founded as the Sarawak Workers Party before being handed over in November 2021. The party is c ...

(PBM) and

United Sabah Party The United Sabah Party ( ms, Parti Bersatu Sabah, abbreviated PBS) is a political party of Sabah. The PBS was founded by Joseph Pairin Kitingan in 1985 and it is Sabah's oldest local party. In August 2020, PBS confirmed that they would be usin ...

(PBS) as confidence-and-supply partners. The opposition primarily consist of the

(PH) coalition which comprises the

Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left social democracy, social democratic political party in Malaysia. ...

(DAP),

People's Justice Party The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The ...

(PKR), National Trust Party (Amanah) and

United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation The United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation ( ms, Pertubuhan Kinabalu Progresif Bersatu; abbrev: UPKO) is a multiracial political party based in Sabah, Malaysia. The party was rebranded from its previous party's name, United Pasokmomogun Ka ...

(UPKO) with

Sabah Heritage Party The Heritage Party ( ms, Parti Warisan or Warisan) is a multi-racial political party in Malaysia which was rebranded and renamed from the Sabah Heritage Party ( ms, Parti Warisan Sabah), a Sabah-based party led by Shafie Apdal formed earlier o ...

(Warisan) as confidence-and-supply partner. Other opposition parties include the

Malaysian United Democratic Alliance The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance ( Malay: ''Ikatan Demokratik Malaysia'', Chinese: 马来西亚民主联合阵线, Tamil: மலேசிய ஐக்கிய ஜனநாயக கூட்டணி; abbreviated: MUDA) is a multi-raci ...

(MUDA), the

Homeland Fighters' Party The Homeland Fighters' Party ( ms, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air, Jawi: ڤرتي ڤجواڠ تانه اير‎‎, PEJUANG) is a Malay-based political party of Malaysia, formed in August 2020 by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Moh ...

(PEJUANG) and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB). Although Malaysian politics has been relatively stable, critics allege that "the government, ruling party, and administration are intertwined with few countervailing forces." However, since the 8 March 2008 General Election, the media's coverage on the country's politics has noticeably increased. After the 14th general elections, media freedom was promised by then new government of Malaysia, the Pakatan Harapan coalition. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Malaysia a " flawed democracy" in 2016. However, Malaysia was a runner up to the Economist 2018 "Country of the Year" in 2018 due to the

peaceful transfer of power A peaceful transition or transfer of power is a concept important to democratic governments in which the leadership of a government peacefully hands over control of government to a newly-elected leadership. This may be after elections or during t ...

following the 14th general elections, losing out at least partly due to Mahathir Mohamad's seeming reluctance to relax the country's divisive racial politics or to hand over power, as agreed, to Anwar Ibrahim.

History

Early developments

Early organised political movements in Malaysia were organised along regional and ethnic groups and were not political parties in the modern sense. They generally were loose alliances of interest groups and individuals primarily concerned with social welfare, social progress and religious reform among the Muslim Malay communities similar to interest groups and

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.Tahir Jalaluddin between 1906 and 1908, and ''al-Munir'' published in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

by Abdullah Ahmad between 1911 and 1916. These in turn were primarily influenced by the Egyptian Islamic reform magazine, ''al-Manar'' published in Cairo by

Rashid Rida Muḥammad Rashīd ibn ʿAlī Riḍā ibn Muḥammad Shams al-Dīn ibn Muḥammad Bahāʾ al-Dīn ibn Munlā ʿAlī Khalīfa (23 September 1865 or 18 October 1865 – 22 August 1935 CE/ 1282 - 1354 AH), widely known as Sayyid Rashid Rida ( ar, � ...

from 1898 to 1936. While these publications were primarily concerned with the Islamic religion, it also touched extensively on the social, political and economic conditions of the Malays. One of the first such movements was the New Hope Society ( ms, Persekutuan Pengharapan Belia) that was established in Johor Bahru in 1916. On 14 September 1923, a movement was established in

Al-Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Egypt by students from

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Un ...

and the Dutch East Indies known as the Al-Jam'iyah Al-Khairiyah lit-tholabah Al-Azhariyah Al-Jawiyah (renamed in 1937 to the Indonesia Malaya Convention or ''Perhimpunan Indonesia Malaya''; PERPINDOM). Composed primarily of students influenced by the Young Turks movement and later the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

, the movement encouraged intentional political and religious discourse through periodicals like Osman Abdullah's ''Seruan Al-Azhar'' (''Al-Azhar Clarion'') and ''Pilehan Timur'' (''Oriental Choice'').

Teachers' unions

The Sultan Idris Training College for Malay teachers in

Tanjung Malim Tanjung Malim, or Tanjong Malim, is a town in Muallim District, Perak, Malaysia. It is approximately north of Kuala Lumpur and 120 km south of Ipoh via the North–South Expressway. It lies on the Perak-Selangor state border, with Sungai ...

was fertile ground for the exchange of ideas. The establishment of the Selangor Malay Teachers Association ( ms, Persatuan Guru-guru Melayu Selangor) in 1921 by Muhammad Yusof paved the way for similar organisations to be set up in the other Federated Malay States and a magazine known as ''Majalah Guru'' (''Teacher's Magazine'') was published in 1923. This magazine allowed for the discussion of larger socio-economic issues as well political issues, establishing itself as one of the influences in the development of Malay nationalism.

Self-help societies

Various self-help societies like the Maharani Company in Muar,

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares maritime bo ...

and the Serikat Pembaikan Hidup ( ms, Life Improvement Society) organised by Mohamad Eunos Abdullah of the

Singapore Malay Union The Malay Union ( ms, Kesatuan Melayu) was a political party in Singapore. History The party was established on 14 May 1926 as a religious and cultural organisations for the Malay community.co-operatives and

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

to help improve the socio-economic conditions of the Malay peasants and smallholders. They too utilised newspapers and periodicals like the Maharani Company published ''Perjumpaan Melayu'' (''Malay Convergence'') to disseminate ideas and encourage discourse on issues pertaining to the social, political and economic conditions of the Malay people.

Early political organisations

Malay Union

The

Malay Union The Malay Union ( ms, Kesatuan Melayu) was a political party in Singapore. History The party was established on 14 May 1926 as a religious and cultural organisations for the Malay community.Mohamad Eunos Abdullah, Tengku Kadir Ali and Embok Suloh with the aim of increasing the role of Malays in public life, upholding Malay interests with the colonial authorities, and promote higher and technical education for Malays. Eunos himself was a

Justice of Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sam ...

, a member of the Muslim Advisory Board set up by the colonial administration during World War I and a member of the Singapore Municipal Council. In his capacity as the chairman of the KM, he became the first Malay member of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements. One of the first issues championed by the KM was the appeal for land to be set aside for a Malay settlement. The appeal was granted and a sum of $ 700,000 was set aside for the KM to purchase and develop the land. This settlement has evolved and is now part of the Eunos neighbourhood in Singapore. The KM also became the catalyst for the establishment of similar organisations in the other states of the British Malaya such as the Penang Malay Association (founded in 1927) and the Perak Malay Association (founded in 1937). People associated with the KM included the first

President of Singapore The president of Singapore is the head of state of the Republic of Singapore. The role of the president is to safeguard the reserves and the integrity of the public service. The presidency is largely ceremonial, with the Cabinet led by the pri ...

, Yusof Ishak. The KM survived World War II and entered into a political coalition with the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), st ...

and the

Malayan Chinese Association The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; zh, 马来西亚华人公会; ; ta, மலேசிய சீனர் சங்கம், initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that seeks to ...

to form the

Singapore Alliance Party The Singapore Alliance Party, or simply the Singapore Alliance, was a political coalition formed on 2 June 1961 that contested several elections in Singapore, notably the 1955 Elections of Singapore and the 1963 Elections of Singapore. It consi ...

. It however eventually faded away with the electoral defeats of the Alliance in the 1955 legislative elections in Singapore.

Communist Party of Malaya

The first political party to be organised with a pan-Malayan outlook was the

Communist Party of Malaya The Malayan Communist Party (MCP), officially the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), was a Marxist–Leninist and anti-imperialist communist party which was active in British Malaya and later, the modern states of Malaysia and Singapore from ...

(CPM) established in 1930. The CPM was originally set up as a branch of the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

supervised by the Far Eastern Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party in 1926. It was then known as the South Seas Communist Party. The fraternal

Communist Party of Indonesia The Communist Party of Indonesia (Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in Indonesia during the mid-20th century. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its violent disbandment in 1965 ...

(established in 1924) was by then underground or in exile due to their abortive revolt in 1926. This resulted in the CPM being almost exclusively dominated by people of Chinese descent. Efforts to establish a broader based representation were made especially in the 1935 representative conferences between the CPM and the General Labour Union as well as the establishment of contact with Communist cells in Siam and the Dutch East Indies in 1936. Nonetheless, the CPM remained an organisation that was predominantly Chinese in composition until the Japanese occupation of Malaya which saw a larger participation of people from other ethnicities.

Young Malay Union

The Young Malay Union ( ms, Kesatuan Melayu Muda; KMM) was established in Kuala Lumpur in 1938 under the leadership of

Ibrahim Yaacob Ibrahim bin Yaacob (1911 – 8 March 1979) was a Malayan politician. An opponent of the British colonial government, he was president and founder of the '' Kesatuan Melayu Muda'' (KMM). During World War II, he supported the Japanese during t ...

. While registered as a social organisation working to improve Malay youths in sports, education, agriculture, health and other recreational pursuits, the primary aim of the KMM was to struggle for the political independence of all the Malayan states from Britain and oppose British imperialism. While gaining significant support from the larger Malay community, the KMM failed to gain support from the Malay aristocrats and bureaucracy and on the eve of the Japanese invasion of Malaya, more than 100 KMM members were arrested by the authorities for collaboration. All were released after the

fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire ...

in February 1942. On 14 January 1942, a KMM delegation led by vice-president,

Mustapha Hussain Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mou ...

, met with the Japanese authorities to negotiate for the independence of Malaya. The Japanese authorities instead disbanded KMM and established the Pembela Tanah Ayer (also known as the ''Malai Giyu Gun'' or by its Malay acronym PETA) militia in its stead. Most who joined PETA were also part of the underground KMM Youth League who continued to struggle for an independent Malaya and some cooperated with the CPM sponsored Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army and other anti-Japanese guerilla units like

Force 136 Force 136 was a far eastern branch of the British World War II intelligence organisation, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Originally set up in 1941 as the India Mission with the cover name of GSI(k), it absorbed what was left of SOE's Or ...

and Wataniah. With the surrender of Japan in August 1945, former KMM cadres formed the nucleus of the emerging political movements like the

Malay Nationalist Party Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM), also known as the Malay Nationalist Party, was founded on 17 October 1945 in Ipoh, Perak. The party was the first Malay political party formed after the Japanese occupation of Malaya. The main goal of the ...

, Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, and

Angkatan Wanita Sedar Angkatan Wanita Sedar (AWAS; Conscious Women's Front) was the first nationalist women's organisation in Malaysia. It was established in late 1945 as women's wing of the Malay Nationalist Party ( ms, Partai Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya, PKMM). Aishah G ...

Political conditions

Malaysia's predominant political party, United Malays National Organization (UMNO), held power in the coalition known as the

(formerly the Alliance) with other parties since Malaya's independence in 1957 until 2018. In 1973, an alliance of communally based parties was replaced with a broader coalition – the

— composed of fourteen parties. Today the Barisan Nasional coalition has three prominent members – the UMNO, MCA ( Malaysian Chinese Association) and MIC (

Malaysian Indian Congress The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC; ta, மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ், Malēciya Intiya Kāṅkiras; formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress) is a Malaysian political party. It is one of the founding membe ...

). The current

is from Pakatan Harapan (PH) who is the ex-UMNO leader, marking the first time the post is occupied by a non-UMNO party member. In addition to the UMNO and other member parties of the

(BN), three main parties (and several smaller parties) compete in national and state-level elections in Malaysia. The three most competitive opposition parties are the

Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...

(Parti Islam se-Malaysia, or PAS) and the

coalition. The Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) promotes a more Islamist political agenda, the BN Coalition is rather critical about the current ruling government since the May 2018 General Elections. Unlike some countries close to Malaysia, such as Thailand or Indonesia, the armed forces are not prominent in politics. The political process in Malaysia from 1957 to 2018 has generally been described as taking the form of "

consociationalism Consociationalism ( ) is a form of democratic power sharing. Political scientists define a consociational state as one which has major internal divisions along ethnic, religious, or linguistic lines, but which remains stable due to consultation a ...

" whereby "communal interests are resolved in the framework of a grand coalition". The executive branch is described as tending to dominate political activity, with the Prime Minister's office being in a position to preside "over an extensive and ever growing array of powers to take action against individuals or organisations," and "facilitate business opportunities". Critics of the ruling government generally agree that although authoritarianism in Malaysia preceded the administration of

Mahathir bin Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

, it was he who "carried the process forward substantially". Legal scholars have suggested that the political "equation for religious and racial harmony" is rather fragile, and that this "fragility stems largely from the identification of religion with race coupled with the political primacy of the Malay people colliding with the aspiration of other races for complete equality." During the terms of Dr.

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the offic ...

as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, many constitutional amendments were made. For example, the Senate could only delay a bill from taking effect and the Monarch no longer had veto powers on proposed bills. Also, the 26 state senators were no longer the majority as another 44 senators were appointed by the King at the advice of the Prime Minister. The amendments also limited the powers of the judiciary to what parliament grants them. In early September 1998, Prime Minister

dismissed Deputy Prime Minister

Anwar Ibrahim Anwar bin Ibrahim ( ms, انور بن ابراهيم, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 1 ...

and accused Anwar of immoral and corrupt conduct. Anwar said his ousting was actually owed to political differences and led a series of demonstrations advocating political reforms. Later in September, Anwar was arrested, beaten while in prison (by among others, the chief of police at the time), and charged with corrupt practices, in both legal and moral contexts, charges including obstruction of justice and

sodomy Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sod ...

. In April 1999, he was convicted of four counts of corruption and sentenced to six years in prison. In August 2000, Anwar was convicted of one count of sodomy and sentenced to nine years to run consecutively after his earlier six-year sentence. Both trials were viewed by domestic and international observers as unfair. Anwar's conviction on sodomy has since been overturned, and having completed his six-year sentence for corruption, he has since been released from prison. In the November 1999 general election, the

returned to power with three-fourths of the parliamentary seats, but UMNO's seats dropped from 94 to 72. The opposition, the Barisan Alternatif coalition, led by the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), increased its seats to 42. PAS retained control of the state of

Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in th ...

and won the additional state of

Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith"). ...

The former 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia was Dato' Seri Mohd. Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak. He took office following the retirement of Dato' Seri

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi ( Jawi: عبد الله بن احمد بدوي; born 26 November 1939) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia from October 2003 to April 2009. He was also the sixth president of ...

(

colloquially Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in convers ...

known as "Pak Lah") on April 2009.

took office as the

under the new

government on 10 May 2018. In the March 2004 general election, Dato' Seri

led

to a landslide victory, in which

recaptured the state of

. The coalition controlled 92% of the seats in Parliament. In 2005, Mahathir stated that "I believe that the country should have a strong government but not too strong. A two-thirds majority like I enjoyed when I was Prime Minister is sufficient but a 90% majority is too strong. ... We need an opposition to remind us if we are making mistakes. When you are not opposed you think everything you do is right." The national media is largely controlled by the government and by political parties in the

/National Front ruling coalition and the opposition has little access to the media. The print media is controlled by the Government through the requirement of obtaining annual publication licences under the Printing and Presses Act. In 2007, a government agency – the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission – issued a directive to all private television and radio stations to refrain from broadcasting speeches made by opposition leaders. The official state ideology is the Rukunegara, which has been described as encouraging "respect for a pluralistic, multireligious and multicultural society", but political scientists have argued that the slogan of ''Bangsa, Agama, Negara'' (race, religion, nation) used by UMNO constitutes an unofficial ideology too. Both ideologies have "generally been used to reinforce a conservative political ideology, one that is Malay-centred." Executive power is vested in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

led by the prime minister; the Malaysian

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princi ...

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. In recent years, the former opposition, now government has been campaigning for freer and fairer elections within Malaysia. On 10 November 2007, a mass rally, called the

2007 Bersih Rally The 2007 Bersih rally was a rally held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 10 November 2007. The aim of this walk was to campaign for electoral reform. It was precipitated by allegations of corruption and discrepancies in the Malaysian election sys ...

, took place in the

Dataran Merdeka Independence Square ( ms, Dataran Merdeka) is a square located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is situated in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. It was formerly known as the Selangor Club Padang or simply the ''Padang'' (meaning "field" ...

, Kuala Lumpur at 3 pm to demand for clean and fair elections. The gathering was organised by BERSIH, a coalition comprising political parties and civil society groups(NGOs), and drew supporters from all over the country. On 11 November, the Malaysian government briefly detained de facto opposition leader

on Tuesday and arrested a human rights lawyer and about a dozen opposition leaders, amid growing complaints that the government was cracking down on dissent. Dozens of policemen blocked the main entrance to the parliament building in Kuala Lumpur to foil an opposition-led rally. The rally was carried out along with the attempt to submit a protest note to Parliament over a government-backed plan to amend a law that would extend the tenure of the

Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

chief, whom the opposition claims is biased. The Malaysian government intensified efforts on 6 March 2008 to portray opposition figure

as a political turncoat, days ahead of the

2008 Malaysian general election A general election was held on Saturday, 8 March 2008 for members of the 12th Parliament of Malaysia. Voting took place in all 222 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominan ...

on 8 March 2008 because he posed a legitimate threat to the ruling coalition. Campaigning wrapped up 7 March 2008 for general elections that could see gains for Malaysia's opposition amid anger over race and religion among minority Chinese and Indians.
Malaysians voted 8 March 2008 in parliamentary elections. Election results showed that the ruling government suffered a setback when it failed to obtain two-thirds majority in parliament, and five out of 12 state legislatures were won by the opposition parties. Reasons for the setback of the ruling party, which has retained power since the nation declared independence in 1957, were rising inflation, crime and ethnic tensions. 2018 marks the first time since independence in 1957 that a non-UMNO party namely PH formed the federal government. PH leader

was then freed after receiving a royal pardon from the king and was designated to take over as PM from

Mahathir Mohamed Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

. However, things did not go well and the 22 months-old Pakatan Harapan administration fell in March 2020 during the 2020 political crisis, having lost the majority number of seats required to hold power as government. They were then replaced by the Perikatan Nasional government, with Muhyiddin as Prime Minister. However, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned after 17 months in office. On 21 August 2021, Ismail Sabri Yaakob was sworn in as the country’s ninth prime minister. The new prime minister was a veteran politician from UMNO. In the November 2022 Malaysian general election, oppposition leader

’s

(PH) coalition won 82 seats and former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) gained 73 seats. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ruling

(BN) coalition was the biggest loser, securing just 30 seats in the 222-member parliament. On 24 November 2022, Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as the 10th

Monarch

The monarch of Malaysia is the ''Yang di-Pertuan Agong'' (YDPA), commonly referred to as the Supreme King of Malaysia. Malaysia is a

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princi ...

elective monarchy, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is selected for a five-year term from among the nine Sultans of the

Malay states The monarchies of Malaysia refer to the constitutional monarchy system as practised in Malaysia. The political system of Malaysia is based on the Westminster parliamentary system in combination with features of a federation. Nine of the states ...

. The other four states that do not have monarch kings, are ruled by governors. The nine sultans and four governors together make up the Conference of Rulers who elect the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The position has to date been, by informal agreement, based on systematic rotation between the nine sultans; the order was originally based on seniority. According to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the YDPA is considered as the Supreme Head of the Federation (Article 32). As a constitutional head, the YDPA is to act on the advice of the Prime Minister (Article 40). The YDPA or monarch king basically has three broad power vested in him (Jeong, 2012): * The power to exercise based on the advice from the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the Conference of Rulers (Article 32, 38, 40) * The power to exercise based on his discretionary power (without the consent or influence of any other authority) * The power to pardon (granting of pardons), reprieves and respites, and/or of remitting, suspending or commuting sentences, under Clause (12) of Article 42. The YDPA is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (i.e. Police, Army) in the Federation of Malaysia (Article 41). He is also the head of the Islamic faith in Malaysia.

System of government

Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and 3 federal territories. The system of government in Malaysia is closely modelled on that of Westminster parliamentary system, a legacy of

British colonial rule The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

. In practice however, more power is vested in the executive branch of government than in the legislative, and the judiciary has been weakened by sustained attacks by the government during the Mahathir era. Parliamentary elections are held at least once every five years, usually concurrent with state elections for state assemblies except for Sabah (until 2004) and Sarawak.

Branches of federal government

Legislative

Legislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures. The bicameral parliament consists of the lower house, the House of Representatives or ''

Dewan Rakyat The Dewan Rakyat (English: 'House of Representatives'; ) is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, the federal legislature of Malaysia. The chamber and its powers are established by Article 44 of the Constitution of Malaysia. The Dewan R ...

'' (literally the "Chamber of the People"); and the upper house, the Senate or ''

Dewan Negara The Dewan Negara (English: Senate; lit. "State Council") is the upper house of the Parliament of Malaysia, consisting of 70 senators of whom 26 are elected by the state legislative assemblies, with two senators for each state, while the othe ...

'' (literally the "Chamber of the Nation"). All seventy Senate members sit for three-year terms (to a maximum of two terms); twenty-six are elected by the thirteen state assemblies, and forty-four are appointed by the king based on the advice of the Prime Minister. The 222 members of the Dewan Rakyat are elected from single-member districts by universal adult suffrage. Parliament has a maximum mandate of five years by law. The king may dissolve parliament at any time, and usually does so upon the advice of the Prime Minister.

General elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

must be held within sixty days of the dissolution of parliament. In practice, this has meant that elections have been held every three to five years at the discretion of the Prime Minister. Legislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures. Malaysia has two sources of law. The national constitution, the nation's supreme law, can be amended by a two-thirds majority in parliament. (Since its formation, the BN has never lacked the necessary two-thirds until 8 March 2008's General Election) The second source of law is sharia (Islamic law), which applies only to Muslims. The federal government has little input into the administration of sharia; it falls to the states to implement Islamic law, and interpretations vary from state to state. The parliament follows a multi-party system and the governing body is elected through a first-past-the-post system.

Executive

Executive power is vested in the

led by the prime minister; the

Malaysian constitution The Federal Constitution of Malaysia ( ms, Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia) which was promulgated on 16 September 1963, is the supreme law of Malaysia and contains a total of 183 articles. It is a written legal document which was preceded ...

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 (YDPA), commands a majority in parliament. The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of Parliament and is responsible to that body. The Executive branch of the government consists of the Prime Minister as the head of the government, followed by the various ministers of the Cabinet. It formulates various socio-economic policies and development plans, for the development of the country as a whole. The Executive has the power and authority to generate revenues through the collection of various taxes, levies, fines, summons, custom duties, and fees, to name some, from the general public.

Judicial

The judiciary is theoretically independent of the executive and the legislature, although supporters of the government hold many judicial positions. The highest court in the judicial system is the Federal Court, followed by the

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

, and two High Courts, one for Peninsular Malaysia, and one for East Malaysia. The subordinate courts in each of these jurisdictions include Sessions Courts, Magistrates' Courts, and Courts for Children. Malaysia also has a Special Court to hear cases brought by or against all Royalty. The Special Court, established in 1993 to hear cases brought by or against Ruler. Before its establishment, Rulers were immune from any proceedings brought against them in their personal capacity. Rulers include the

(the elected Monarch), and the heads of state of Malaysia's component states. Separate from the civil courts are the

Syariah Court Syariah (the Malay spelling of "Sharia") refers to Sharia law in Islamic religious law and deals with exclusively Islamic laws, having jurisdiction upon every Muslim in Malaysia. The Syariah Court system is one of the two separate court systems w ...

s, which decide on cases which involve Malaysian Muslims. These courts run parallel to the normal court system, and are undergoing reforms that include the first ever appointment of female judges. Debate exists in Malaysia over whether the country should be secular or Islamic. Some state governments controlled by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, including that of Terengganu, have passed Islamic laws, but these have not gone into effect due to opposition from the federal government.

Legal system

Malaysia's legal system is based on English Common Law, alongside a Sharia court system for Malaysian Muslims. The Federal Court reviews decisions referred from the Court of Appeals; 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 has a high court. The federal government has authority over external affairs, defence, 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.

State governments

Each state has a unicameral state legislative chamber ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri) whose members are elected from single-member constituencies. State governments are led by Chief Ministers (''

Menteri Besar In Malaysia, the Menteri Besar ( Jawi:منتري بسر; literally '' First Minister''), colloquially referred to as MB, is the head of government of each of nine states in Malaysia with hereditary rulers. For four states without a monarch, the ...

'' in Malay states or ''Ketua Menteri'' in states without hereditary rulers), who are state assembly members from the majority party in the Dewan Undangan Negeri. They advise their respective sultans or governors. In each of the states with a hereditary ruler, the Chief Minister is required to be an

ethnic Malay Malays ( ms, Orang Melayu, Jawi: أورڠ ملايو) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations — areas that are col ...

, appointed by the Sultan upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Parliamentary elections are held at least once every five years, with the last general election being in May 2018. Registered voters of age 18 and above may vote for the members of the House of Representatives and, in most of the states, for the state legislative chamber. Voting is not mandatory. Although Malaysia is a federal state, political scientists have suggested that its "federalism is highly centralised":

Participation

Race plays a large role in Malaysian politics, and many Malaysian political parties are ethnically based. The Government's New Economic Policy (NEP) and the

National Development Policy The National Development Policy was a Malaysian economic policy introduced by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The objective was achieving economic growth, while ensuring that accrued benefits reached all sections of society. The National Developm ...

(NDP) which superseded it, were implemented to advance the standing of ''

Bumiputera Bumiputera or Bumiputra, which is a Malay word, comes from the Sanskrit word ''Bhumiputra'' which may be transliterated as "son of earth" or "son of the soil" (Bhūmi; भूमि = earth; putra = son). It has different definitions in Brunei and M ...

'' Malaysians. The policies provide preferential treatment to Malays over non-Malays in employment, education, scholarships, business, and access to cheaper housing and assisted savings. While improving in the economic position of Malays, it is a source of resentment amongst non-Malays. The race-based politics practiced by UMNO has been widely criticised as racist and discriminatory. Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak has claimed to attempt to close racial divides through the 1Malaysia initiative. This, however, has not helped much. The origin of race based politics can be traced back to independence of Malaysia from United Kingdom, who wanted all citizens of Malaysia to be equal upon independence, instead of dominance by Malays. This caused the political parties of the three major races at the time, the UMNO (representing Malays), the MCA (representing Chinese), and the MIC (representing Indians), to join and form the Alliance Party. Students are not allowed to be involved in politics, due to the University and University College Act. A higher interest in the political process led to a slowdown in outbound corporate travel in anticipation of the general election in the first half of 2013, where many travellers postponed travel to ensure they had the chance to cast their votes.

Foreign relations

Malaysia participates in international politics and engages in formal relationships with international bodies as well as with foreign states adopting various policies. Malaysia's participation in international politics also affects domestic politics for example the Israel–Malaysia relations.

References

Books

* James Chin. Politics of Federal Intervention in Malaysia, with reference to Kelantan, Sarawak and Sabah, Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol. 35, No 2 (July) 1997, pp 96–120 *

Abdul Rashid Moten Abdul Rashid Moten (born February 20, 1947) is a Bangladeshi political scientist, academic, and author on issues ranging from political science and its various aspects, Islamic methodology in political science, political movements in the Muslim worl ...

& Syed Serajul Islam. (2005). ''Introduction to Political Science.'' Singapore: Thomson Publication. * Ahmad Ibrahim, Tan Sri Datuk Seri. (1992). ''The Malaysian Legal System''. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka. * ILBS. (2007). ''Federal Constitution of Malaysia''. Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services. * Jeong Chun Hai @ Ibrahim & Nor Fadzlina Nawi. (2012). ''Principles of Public Administration: Malaysian Perspectives.'' Kuala Lumpur: Pearson Publishers. * Jeong Chun Hai @ Ibrahim. (2007). ''Fundamental of Development Administration.'' Selangor: Scholar Press. * Wan Arfah Hamzah & Ramy Bulan. (2003). ''The Malaysian Legal System.'' Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit Fajar Bakti.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Politics Of Malaysia Malaysia