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Politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of afederalrepresentative democraticconstitutional monarchy, in which theYang di-Pertuan Agong ishead of state and thePrime Minister of Malaysia is thehead of government.Executive power is exercised by the federal government and the 13state governments.Legislative power is vested in the federalparliament and the 13state assemblies. Thejudiciary 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.
TheConstitution of Malaysia iscodified and the system of government is based on theWestminster system. The hierarchy of authority inMalaysia, 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, theParliament consists of theDewan Negara (Upper House/Senate) andDewan Rakyat (Lower House/House of Representatives).[1]
Malaysia has had amulti-party system since the firstdirect election of theFederal Legislative Council ofMalaya in 1955 on afirst-past-the-post basis. The ruling party was theAlliance Party (Malay:Parti Perikatan) coalition and from 1973 onwards, its successor, theBarisan Nasional (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 thePakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in the14th general election that was held on 9 May 2018. Following the2020–22 Malaysian political crisis, thePerikatan Nasional government served from 1 March 2020 to 17 August 2021 whenBarisan Nasional withdrew support and left the coalition.
As a result of the2022 Malaysian general election, a hung parliament was elected.Anwar Ibrahim of thePakatan Harapan coalition was appointed as the new Prime Minister to lead the coalition government known as theUnity Government, consisting of other political coalitions ofBarisan Nasional,Gabungan Parti Sarawak,Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and several other political parties and independents.Perikatan Nasional, as the sole coalition not in theUnity Government, serves as the Opposition.
TheMalaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA), represented by Syed Saddiq in the Dewan Rakyat, withdrew support of the government and had joined the Opposition since 10 September 2023 over theDischarge Not Amounting to Acquital (DNAA) given to Deputy Prime MinisterAhmad Zahid Hamidi.[2]
Although Malaysian politics has been relatively stable, critics allege that "the government, ruling party, and administration are intertwined with few countervailing forces."[3] However, since the8 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.
TheEconomist Intelligence Unit rated Malaysia a "flawed democracy" in 2016.[4] However, Malaysia was a runner up to the Economist 2018 "Country of the Year" in 2018 due to thepeaceful transfer of power following the 14th general elections.[5] The country is considered by theV-Dem Institute to have the second highestelectoral and liberal democracy scores in Southeast Asia.
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 withsocial welfare,social progress and religious reform among theMuslimMalay communities similar tointerest groups andcivil society organisations of today.[6]
Religious reformers played a large role in developing and disseminating ideas with magazines and periodicals likeal-Imam published in Singapore byTahir Jalaluddin between 1906 and 1908, andal-Munir published inPenang byAbdullah Ahmad between 1911 and 1916. These in turn were primarily influenced by the Egyptian Islamic reform magazine,al-Manar published in Cairo byRashid Rida from 1898 to 1936.[7] While these publications were primarily concerned with theIslamic religion, it also touched extensively on the social, political and economic conditions of the Malays.[8]
One of the first such movements was theNew Hope Society (Malay:Persekutuan Pengharapan Belia) that was established inJohor Bahru in 1916. On 14 September 1923, a movement was established inAl-Azhar University inCairo,Egypt by students fromBritish Malaya and theDutch East Indies known as theAl-Jam'iyah Al-Khairiyah lit-tholabah Al-Azhariyah Al-Jawiyah (renamed in 1937 to theIndonesia Malaya Convention orPerhimpunan Indonesia Malaya;PERPINDOM).[9] Composed primarily of students influenced by theYoung Turks movement and later theMuslim Brotherhood, the movement encouraged intentional political and religious discourse through periodicals likeOsman Abdullah'sSeruan Al-Azhar (Al-Azhar Clarion) andPilehan Timur (Oriental Choice).[10]
TheSultan Idris Training College for Malay teachers inTanjung Malim was fertile ground for the exchange of ideas. The establishment of theSelangor Malay Teachers Association (Malay:Persatuan Guru-guru Melayu Selangor) in 1921 byMuhammad Yusof paved the way for similar organisations to be set up in the otherFederated Malay States and a magazine known asMajalah 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.[11][12]
Various self-help societies like theMaharani Company inMuar,Johor and theSerikat Pembaikan Hidup (Malay:Life Improvement Society) organised byMohamad Eunos Abdullah of theSingapore Malay Union (Malay:Kesatuan Melayu Singapura) establishedco-operatives andcommunes to help improve the socio-economic conditions of the Malay peasants and smallholders. They too utilised newspapers and periodicals like the Maharani Company publishedPerjumpaan Melayu (Malay Convergence) to disseminate ideas and encourage discourse on issues pertaining to the social, political and economic conditions of the Malay people.[13][14]
TheMalay Union (Malay:Kesatuan Melayu;KM) was established in 1926[15] byMohamad Eunos Abdullah,Tengku Kadir Ali andAmbo Sooloh 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.[16] Eunos himself was aJustice of Peace, a member of theMuslim Advisory Board set up by the colonial administration duringWorld War I and a member of theSingapore Municipal Council. In his capacity as the chairman of the KM, he became the first Malay member of theLegislative 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 theEunos neighbourhood in Singapore.[17]
The KM also became the catalyst for the establishment of similar organisations in the other states of the British Malaya such as thePenang Malay Association (founded in 1927) and thePerak Malay Association (founded in 1937).[11] People associated with the KM included the firstPresident of Singapore,Yusof Ishak. The KM survivedWorld War II and entered into a political coalition with theUnited Malays National Organisation and theMalayan Chinese Association to form theSingapore Alliance Party. It however eventually faded away with the electoral defeats of the Alliance in the 1955legislative elections in Singapore.[11][18]
The first political party to be organised with a pan-Malayan outlook was theCommunist Party of Malaya (CPM) established in 1930. The CPM was originally set up as a branch of theComintern supervised by the Far Eastern Bureau of theChinese Communist Party in 1926, then known as theSouth Seas Communist Party. The fraternalCommunist Party of Indonesia (established in 1924) was forced underground and in exile due to their abortiverevolt in 1926, which resulted in the CPM becoming exclusively dominated by people of Chinese descent[citation needed]. Efforts to establish a broader based representation were made especially in the 1935 representative conferences between the CPM and theGeneral Labour Union as well as the establishment of contact with Communist cells inSiam and theDutch East Indies in 1936. Nonetheless, the CPM remained an organisation that was predominantly Chinese in composition until theJapanese occupation of Malaya which saw a larger participation of people from other ethnicities.[19]
TheYoung Malay Union (Malay:Kesatuan Melayu Muda;KMM) was established inKuala Lumpur in 1938 under the leadership ofIbrahim Yaacob. 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 Britishimperialism.
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 theJapanese invasion of Malaya, more than 100 KMM members were arrested by the authorities for collaboration.
All were released after thefall of Singapore in February 1942. On 14 January 1942, a KMM delegation led by vice-president,Mustapha Hussain, met with the Japanese authorities to negotiate for the independence of Malaya. The Japanese authorities instead disbanded KMM and established thePembela Tanah Ayer (also known as theMalai Giyu Gun or by itsMalay acronymPETA) 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 sponsoredMalayan People's Anti-Japanese Army and other anti-Japanese guerilla units likeForce 136 andWataniah.
With thesurrender of Japan in August 1945, former KMM cadres formed the nucleus of the emerging political movements like theMalay Nationalist Party,Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, andAngkatan Wanita Sedar.[20][21][22]
Malaysia's predominant political party,United Malays National Organization (UMNO), held power in the coalition known as theBarisan Nasional (formerly the Alliance) with other parties since Malaya's independence in 1957 until 2018.[23] In 1973, an alliance of communally based parties was replaced with a broader coalition – theBarisan Nasional — 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 currentPrime Minister of Malaysia 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.[24]
In addition to the UMNO and other member parties of theBarisan Nasional (BN), three main parties (and several smaller parties) compete in national and state-level elections in Malaysia. The three most competitive opposition parties are thePan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam se-Malaysia, or PAS) and theBarisan Nasional 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.[25]
Unlike some countries close to Malaysia, such as Thailand or Indonesia, the armed forces are not prominent in politics.[26]
The political process in Malaysia from 1957 to 2018 has generally been described as taking the form of "consociationalism" 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 ofMahathir bin Mohamad, 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 thepolitical primacy of the Malay people colliding with the aspiration of other races for complete equality."
During the terms of Dr.Mahathir Mohamad 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.[clarification needed] The amendments also limited the powers of the judiciary to what parliament grants them.
In early September 1998, Prime Minister Mahathir dismissed Deputy Prime MinisterAnwar Ibrahim 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 includingobstruction of justice andsodomy. 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 theNovember 1999 general election, theBarisan Nasional returned to power with three-fourths of the parliamentary seats, but UMNO's seats dropped from 94 to 72. The opposition, theBarisan Alternatif coalition, led by theIslamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), increased its seats to 42. PAS retained control of the state ofKelantan and won the additional state ofTerengganu.
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' SeriAbdullah Ahmad Badawi (colloquially known as "Pak Lah") in April 2009.[1]Mahathir Mohamad took office as thePrime Minister of Malaysia under the newPakatan Harapan government on 10 May 2018.
In theMarch 2004 general election, Dato' SeriAbdullah Ahmad Badawi ledBarisan Nasional to a landslide victory, in whichBarisan Nasional recaptured the state ofTerengganu. 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 theBarisan Nasional/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 thePrinting 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 philosophy and ideology of Malaysia is theRukun Negara, which consists of five core principles that serve as a guide for living in society: Belief in God, Loyalty to the King and Country, Supremacy of the Constitution, Rule of Law, and Courtesy and Morality."
Executive power is vested in thecabinet led by theprime minister; the Malaysianconstitution stipulates that the prime minister must be a member of the lower house ofparliament 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 the2007 Bersih Rally, took place in theDataran Merdeka, 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 leaderAnwar Ibrahim 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 inKuala 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 theElection Commission chief, whom the opposition claims is biased.
The Malaysian government intensified efforts on 6 March 2008 to portray opposition figureAnwar Ibrahim as a political turncoat, days ahead of the2008 Malaysian general election on 8 March 2008 because he posed a legitimate threat to the ruling coalition.[27] Campaigning wrapped up 7 March 2008 for general elections that could see gains forMalaysia's opposition amid anger over race and religion among minority Chinese andIndians.[28] Malaysians voted 8 March 2008 in parliamentary elections.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30]
2018 marks the first time since independence in 1957 that a non-UMNO party namely PH formed the federal government.[24] PH leaderAnwar Ibrahim was then freed after receiving a royal pardon from the king and was designated to take over as PM fromMahathir Mohamad.[31] However, things did not go well and the 22 months-old Pakatan Harapan administration fell in March 2020 during the2020 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.[32]
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.[33]
In the November 2022 Malaysian generalelection, opposition leaderAnwar Ibrahim’sPakatan Harapan (PH) coalition won 82 seats and former Prime MinisterMuhyiddin Yassin’sPerikatan Nasional (PN) gained 73 seats. Prime MinisterIsmail Sabri Yaakob’s rulingBarisan Nasional (BN) coalition was the biggest loser, securing just 30 seats in the 222-member parliament.[34] On 24 November 2022, Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as the 10thPrime Minister of Malaysia.[35]
The monarch of Malaysia is theYang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA), commonly referred to as theSupreme King of Malaysia. Malaysia is aconstitutionalelective monarchy, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is selected for a five-year term from among the nineSultans of theMalay states. The other four states that do not have monarch kings, are ruled by governors.[36] The nine sultans and four governors together make up theConference 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):[1]
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.[37]
Malaysia is afederation of13 states and 3 federal territories. The system of government in Malaysia is closely modelled on that ofWestminsterparliamentary system, a legacy ofBritish colonial rule.[38] 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.[39][40][41]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.[42]
Legislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures.The bicameral parliament consists of thelower house, the House of Representatives orDewan Rakyat (literally the "Chamber of the People"); and theupper house, the Senate orDewan Negara (literally the "Chamber of the Nation").[43][44] 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.[23]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 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.[45] 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 issharia (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.[45] The parliament follows a multi-party system and the governing body is elected through afirst-past-the-post system.[23]
Executive power is vested in thecabinet led by theprime minister; theMalaysian constitution stipulates that the prime minister must be a member of the Lower House ofparliament who, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA), commands a majority in parliament.[46] The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of Parliament and is responsible to that body.[1][47]
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.
Thejudiciary is theoretically independent of the executive and the legislature,[48] although supporters of the government hold many judicial positions.[49] The highest court in the judicial system is theFederal Court, followed by theCourt of Appeal, and twoHigh Courts, one forPeninsular Malaysia, and one forEast 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.[50]
The Special Court was established in 1993 to hear cases brought by or against any Rulers. Before its establishment, Rulers were immune from any proceedings brought against them in their personal capacity.[51] Rulers include theYang di-Pertuan Agong (the elected Monarch), and theheads of state of Malaysia's component states.
Separate from the civil courts are theSyariah Courts, which decide on cases which involve Malaysian Muslims.[52] These courts run parallel to the normal court system, and are undergoing reforms that include the first ever appointment of female judges.[53] Debate exists in Malaysia over whether the country should be secular or Islamic.[54] Some state governments controlled by thePan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), including that of Terengganu, have passed Islamic laws, but these have not gone into effect due to opposition from the federal government.[55]
Malaysia's legal system is based onEnglish Common Law,[23] alongside aSharia court system for Malaysian Muslims.[56] 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.
Each state has a unicameral state legislative chamber (Malay:Dewan Undangan Negeri) whose members are elected from single-member constituencies. State governments are led by Chief Ministers[23] (Menteri Besar in Malay states orKetua 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 anethnic Malay, appointed by the Sultan upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister.[57]Parliamentary elections are held at least once every five years, with the last general election being in May 2018.[23] 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.[58]Although Malaysia is a federal state, political scientists have suggested that its "federalism is highly centralised":
Our federalism gives the federal government not only the most legislative and executive powers but also the most important sources of revenue. State governments are excluded from the revenues of income tax, export, import and excise duties, and they are also largely restricted from borrowing internationally. They have to depend on revenue from forests, lands, mines, petroleum, the entertainment industry, and finally, transfer payments from the central government.[59]
Race plays a large role in Malaysian politics, and many Malaysian political parties are ethnically based.[23] The Government'sNew Economic Policy (NEP)[60] and theNational Development Policy (NDP) which superseded it, were implemented to advance the standing ofBumiputera 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.[61] 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 the1Malaysia initiative.[62] 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 theAlliance Party.[63]
Students are not allowed to be involved in politics, due to the University and University College Act.[49] 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.[64]
In June 2023, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stressed that he was committed to transitioning Malaysia from race-based to needs-based affirmative action policies.[65]
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 theIsrael–Malaysia relations.
Media related toPolitics of Malaysia at Wikimedia Commons
