Politics Of Malaysia

The politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is head of state and the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Malaysian government and the devolved governments of the 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia, and Sabah and Sarawak. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Senate (Dewan Negara) and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat). 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.

However, during the terms of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, many constitutional amendments were made. Henceforth, the Senate can only delay a bill from taking effect and the Monarch no longer has veto powers on proposed bills. Also, the 26 state senators are no longer the majority as another 44 senators are 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.

Malaysia is a multi-party system since the first direct election of the Federal Legislative Council of Malaya in 1955 on a first-past-the-post basis. The ruling party since then has always been the Alliance Party (Malay: Parti Perikatan) coalition and subsequently from 1973 onwards, its successor the Barisan Nasional (Malay for National Front) coalition. The Barisan Nasional coalition currently consists of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and 11 other political parties.

The Constitution of Malaysia is codified and the system of government is based on the Westminster system.

Although Malaysian politics has been relatively stable, critics allege that "the government, ruling party, and administration...are intertwined with few countervailing forces."