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The Cabinet of Malaysia (Malay: Jemaah Menteri Malaysia) is the executive branch of the Government of Malaysia. Led by the Prime Minister, the cabinet is a council of ministers who are accountable collectively to the Parliament. According to the Article 43 of the Federal Constitution, members of the Cabinet can only be selected from members of either houses of Parliament. Formally, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints all Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister. [1] The constitution is amended by repealing the Clause (8) of Article 43, enabling a person who is a member of State Legislative Assembly to continue to serve even while serving as a minister or deputy minister in the cabinet. Ministers other than the Prime Minister shall hold office during the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, unless the appointment of any Minister shall have been revoked by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the advice of the Prime Minister but any Minister may resign from office. In practice, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is obliged to follow the advice of the Prime Minister on the appointment and dismissal of ministers.
Members of the Cabinet must be members of either house of Parliament. Most ministers are appointed from the lower house, the Dewan Rakyat, although a few are appointed from the upper house, the Dewan Negara. The Prime Minister must be a member of the Dewan Rakyat. Although Deputy Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries may be appointed to each portfolio, they are not included in the Cabinet. The Cabinet meets weekly, every Wednesday. [2] After the position of Parliamentary Secretary was removed and partial live telecasts of Parliament proceedings began in 2008, Cabinet meetings were moved to Fridays whenever Parliament sat, so as to allow Ministers to personally answer questions during Question Time in Parliament. [3]
The composition of the Cabinet, and the number of portfolios depends mainly on the wishes of the Prime Minister at the time. However, the post of Finance Minister was considered so important as to be a necessity, and as a result was incorporated by the Minister of Finance (Incorporation) Act 1957 (Act 375). [4] The position of Deputy Prime Minister is one that exists by convention, and as a result a Prime Minister could theoretically form a Cabinet without a Deputy. [5]
Deputy ministers exist for each portfolio, although they are not considered members of the Cabinet. The position of Deputy Minister was created by constitutional amendment in 1960. The office of parliamentary secretary for each ministry exists but none were appointed after the 2008 Malaysian general election. Parliamentary secretaries were provided for by an amendment in 1963. Deputy ministers and parliamentary secretaries are also appointed from members of Parliament, and deputise for the ministers in government ministries and in Parliament respectively. An additional office, that of the Political Secretary, exists. Political Secretaries need not be members of Parliament. Before taking office, all members of the Cabinet, Deputy Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries, and Political Secretaries take an oath of secrecy concerning the proceedings of the Cabinet. [5]
An outline of the functions of the Cabinet are as follows: [6]
23 cabinets have taken place in Malaysia since 1957 headed by nine Prime Ministers.
No. | Name of Cabinet | Head of Cabinet | Period of Office | Composition |
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1 | Rahman I | Tunku Abdul Rahman | 31 August 1957 – 19 August 1959 |
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2 | Rahman II | 22 August 1959 – 24 April 1964 |
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3 | Rahman III | 25 April 1964 – 1969 |
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4 | Rahman IV | 1969 – 21 December 1970 | 9 ministers | |
5 | Razak I | Abdul Razak Hussein | 22 December 1970 – 24 August 1974 |
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6 | Razak II | 25 August 1974 – 14 January 1976 |
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7 | Hussein I | Hussein Onn | 15 January 1976 – 8 July 1978 |
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8 | Hussein II | 9 July 1978 – 15 July 1981 |
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9 | Mahathir I | Mahathir Mohamad | 16 July 1981 – 21 April 1982 |
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10 | Mahathir II | 22 April 1982 – 2 August 1986 |
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11 | Mahathir III | 11 August 1986 – 26 October 1990 |
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12 | Mahathir IV | 22 October 1990 – 3 May 1995 |
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13 | Mahathir V | 4 May 1995 – 14 December 1999 |
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14 | Mahathir VI | 15 December 1999 – 2 November 2003 |
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15 | Abdullah I | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi | 3 November 2003 – 26 March 2004 |
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16 | Abdullah II | 27 March 2004 – 18 March 2008 |
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17 | Abdullah III | 19 March 2008 – 9 April 2009 |
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18 | Najib I | Najib Razak | 10 April 2009 – 15 May 2013 |
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19 | Najib II | 16 May 2013 – 9 May 2018 |
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20 | Mahathir VII | Mahathir Mohamad | 10 May 2018 – 24 February 2020 |
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21 | Muhyiddin | Muhyiddin Yassin | 1 March 2020 – 16 August 2021 |
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22 | Ismail Sabri | Ismail Sabri Yaakob | 27 August 2021 – 24 November 2022 |
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23 | Anwar | Anwar Ibrahim | 24 November 2022 – present |
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Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security
Ministry of Digital Communications
Ministry of Domestic Trade and Living Costs
Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Co-operatives
Ministry of Territories
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Human Resources
Ministry of International Trade and Industry
Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources
Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities
Ministry of Rural and Regional Development
Ministry of Science and Technology
Ministry of Tourism
Ministry of Local Government Development
Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development
Ministry of Works
Ministry of Youth and Sports
Ministry of Health
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Others
Politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of a federal representative democratic constitutional monarchy, in which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is head of state and the Prime Minister of Malaysia 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.
Putrajaya, officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya, is a planned capital city which functions as the administrative capital and the judicial capital of Malaysia. The seat of the federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya because of overcrowding and congestion in the former, whilst the seat of the judiciary of Malaysia was later moved to Putrajaya in 2003. Kuala Lumpur remains as Malaysia's national capital city per the constitution and is still the seat of the head of state and the national legislature, as well as being the country's commercial and financial centre.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, 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 office was established in 1957, when the Federation of Malaya gained independence from the United Kingdom. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected by the Conference of Rulers, comprising the nine rulers of the Malay states, with the office de facto rotated between them, making Malaysia one of the world's few elective monarchies.
The prime minister of Malaysia is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the federal government. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints as the prime minister a member of Parliament (MP) who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs; this person is usually the leader of the party winning the most seats in a general election.
The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King), as the head of state, is the third component of Parliament.
The Dewan Rakyat 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 Rakyat sits in the Houses of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, along with the Dewan Negara, the upper house.
The Federal Constitution of Malaysia which came into force in 1957, is the supreme law of Malaysia and contains a total of 183 articles. It is a written legal document influenced by two previous documents, the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948 and the Independence Constitution of 1957. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore became part of the Federation. The Constitution establishes the Federation as a constitutional monarchy, having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State with largely ceremonial roles. It provides for the establishment and organisation of three main branches of the government: the bicameral legislative branch called the Parliament, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate ; the executive branch led by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers and the judicial branch headed by the Federal Court.
The states and federal territories of Malaysia are the principal administrative divisions of Malaysia. Malaysia is a federation of 13 states (Negeri) and 3 federal territories.
The Dewan Negara 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 other 44 are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King), including four who are appointed to represent the federal territories.
The Election Commission of Malaysia, abbreviated SPR or EC, is a commission set up for ensuring fair and equitable operations in undertaking the elections in Malaysia. Its establishment is mandated by executive order of the former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The agency falls under the purview of the Prime Minister's Department.
Tan Sri Dato' Haji Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin, commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Muhammad Yassin, is a Malaysian politician who served as the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia from March 2020 to August 2021. Appointed as prime minister amid a political crisis, Muhyiddin served for 17 months and resigned after losing parliamentary support, making him the second shortest-serving prime minister in Malaysian history after Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The Conference of Rulers in Malaysia is a council comprising the nine rulers of the Malay states, and the governors or Yang di-Pertua Negeri of the other four states. It was officially established by Article 38 of the Constitution of Malaysia, and is the only such institution in the world, according to the Malaysian National Library. Its main responsibility is the election of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) and their deputy, the Timbalan Yang di-Pertuan Agong, which occurs every five years or when the positions fall vacant. Although its position in the process of elective monarchy is unique, the Conference of Rulers also plays a role in amending the Constitution of Malaysia and some other policies, in particular, those Articles which have been "entrenched", namely those pertaining to the status of the rulers, the special privileges of the indigenous Bumiputra, the status of the Malay language as the national language, and the clause governing the entrenchment of such Articles.
The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia, is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is a federation comprising the 11 States of Malaya, the Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak, and 3 Federal Territories operating within a constitutional monarchy under the Westminster system and is categorised as a representative democracy. The federal government of Malaysia adheres to and is created by the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the supreme law of the land.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Malaysia:
The Malaysian order of precedence is a hierarchy of important positions within the Government of Malaysia. It has no legal standing but is used by ceremonial protocol. The order of precedence is determined by the Federal Order of Precedence issued by the Prime Minister's Department. The latest one was issued on 13 November 2014. Unless otherwise noted, precedence among persons of equal rank is determined by seniority. As a general rule, spouses share the same rank with another and a person with two positions will take the highest one.
Najib Razak formed the second Najib cabinet after being invited by Tuanku Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah to begin a new government following the 5 May 2013 general election in Malaysia. In order to be the Prime Minister, Najib sworn in before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on 6 May 2013. Prior to the election, Najib led the first Najib cabinet, a coalition government that consisted of members of the component parties of Barisan Nasional.
The 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis was a political crisis in Malaysia. It was caused by several members of the 14th parliament (MPs) changing party support, leading to the loss of a parliamentary majority, the collapse of three successive coalition governments, and the resignation of two Prime Ministers in less than 18 months. The crisis led to a 2022 snap general election and eventual formation of a coalition government.
The Muhyiddin cabinet was formed on 10 March 2020, nine days after Muhyiddin Yassin was appointed as the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia and dissolved 17 months and 6 days later on 16 August 2021, the day when Muhyiddin submitted his resignations as PM and of this cabinet. It was the 21st cabinet of Malaysia formed since independence. This cabinet was also known as the Perikatan Nasional Cabinet (PN-Cabinet) which combined 15 political parties from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) component parties, with Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) component parties and United Sabah Party (PBS) as allied partners providing confidence and supply.
The National Alliance is a political coalition composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN). This coalition was preceded by the Malaysian Party Alliance Association, also known as the Persatuan Perikatan Parti Malaysia (PPPM).
The Anwar Ibrahim cabinet was announced on 2 December 2022, eight days after Anwar Ibrahim was appointed the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah and therefore was invited to form a coalition government together with other political coalitions. Ministers were sworn in the following day on 3 December 2022. Perikatan Nasional (PN) was also invited, but refused, to join the government, instead forming the federal opposition. The governing parties have named this cabinet the "National Unity Cabinet".