SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT
The 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Paramount Ruler of King) Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin opens the first parliamentary session for 2004.
Malaysia’s system of government provides institutional ballast and stability to a country only independent since 1957. With strong genetic links to the British ‘Westminster’ and ‘Whitehall’ models, the system has nevertheless been adapted to suit Malaysia’s particular circumstances.The effective functioning of the Malaysian system of government is attributable to the monarchy, and to the three key branches of government: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The doctrine of the separation of these three ‘powers’ is guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.
By virtue of Malaysia's status as a federal nation, each of the key branches is represented at both the federal level and, at least to some extent, the state level, as is the monarchy. The focus of this section of the volume is, however, on the federal level alone.
The interplay of the various branches of government is testimony to an orderly political process in which the government's writ is large and regarded as essential. Indeed, Malaysia has an authoritative and working system of government once the roles of the civil service, police and armed forces are taken into account (see ‘Institutions of State and National Security').
Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Paramount Ruler or King) is an elective position which symbolizes national unity and represents the Malay underpinning of a multi-racial nation.
At the federal level, representation of the rakyat (people) is fulfilled by the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) supported by the Dewan Negara (Senate). However, in the Malaysian context it is the apportionment of executive responsibility to Ministers in the Cabinet that in practice forms the core of the political system. The judiciary (and the administration of justice) represent the third pillar of the governmental system. Whilst issues have arisen about the efficacy of these latter bodies—such as the independence of the judiciary—a strong sense of institutional continuity has nevertheless been retained.
At the apex of the executive arm of government is the office of Prime Minister. As the nation's chief executive, the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the embodiment of elective political power and of the aspirations of the body politic. The Prime Ministerial role impacts substantially on the nation's political, economic and social fabric. Beginning with Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, who was also the first and only Chief Minister of a self-governing Federation of Malaya before Independence was achieved in 1957, he and his successors have had their personality and their ideas stamped on the various phases of the country's development. In the respective articles in this section, it can be seen that each Prime Minister's tenure, including that of incumbent Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, can be viewed as a legacy of ideals and ideas on the modernization of a multi-ethnic nation