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.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, also known as the Supreme Head, Supreme Head of the Federation, Paramount Ruler or King, 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 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 (Senate). 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, it is the supreme law of Malaysia and it contains a total of 183 Articles. It is a written legal document that have been shaped by two previous documents which were 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 whose roles are largely ceremonial. It provides for the establishment and the 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 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.
The Cabinet of 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. 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 be one even when he or she is appointed 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 his 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.
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 of 13 states 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 Ketua Menteri Sabah or Chief Minister of Sabah is the head of government of the Malaysian state of Sabah. Since September 2020, the position has been held by Hajiji Noor from the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Perikatan Nasional (PN) from the coalition of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) which had won the 2020 Sabah state election. As in other parts of the Malaysian federation, the Westminster Parliamentary system is adopted, whereby, the leader of the party with the most seats in the state legislature would usually become the chief minister of Sabah. In other words, it is the person commanding the support of the state legislature. The chief minister is appointed by the head of state known as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri. In comparison to other states in Malaysia, the office of the Chief Minister of Sabah has been held by a more diverse group of people in terms of ethnicity and religion. The post has been held by Kadazan-Dusuns, Bajaus, Malays, Chinese, Muruts, Rungus, Sungai, Idaans, and other persons of mixed heritage as well as being Muslims, Buddhists and Christians.
The Menteri Besar of Negeri Sembilan or First Minister of Negeri Sembilan or Chief Minister of Negeri Sembilan is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan. According to the convention, the Menteri Besar is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly.
The Ketua Menteri Sarawak or Chief Minister of Sarawak is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The Federal Constitution and State Constitution provides that the Yang di-Pertua Negeri may, in his discretion, appoint any member of the State Legislative Assembly who, in his judgement, commands the support of a majority of the members of that chamber as Chief Minister. By convention, the Chief Minister is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly.
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.
In Malaysian political and constitutional terminology, a caretaker government is a government of Malaysia during a period that starts when the parliament is dissolved by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong prior to a general election, and continues for a period after the election, until the next cabinet is appointed. A caretaker government is expected to conduct itself in accordance with a series of well-defined conventions that are administered by the Prime Minister's Department, although there is no law compelling the caretaker government to do so.
The next Malaysian general election, formally the 15th Malaysian general election, is scheduled to be held on or before July 2023 or in two months time to elect the members of the Dewan Rakyat in the 15th Parliament of Malaysia. All 222 seats will be up for election, presuming no constituencies are added or removed in a redistribution. As the 14th Parliament first sat on 16 July 2018, it will automatically be dissolved on June 2023 if not dissolved earlier. Traditionally, elections for all state legislatures are also held concurrently.
The Secretary of the House of Representatives of MalaysiaSUDR is the chief clerk of the House of Representatives of Malaysia.
The 2020–21 Malaysian political crisis is a political crisis in Malaysia. It was caused by Members of Parliament (MPs) changing party support, leading to the loss of parliamentary majority, the collapse of two successive coalition governments and resignation of two Prime Ministers in less than 18 months. In February 2020, developments commonly nicknamed the Sheraton Move saw the ousting of the elected Pakatan Harapan government and the resignation of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, after 22 months in power. They were replaced with the Perikatan Nasional government under Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Political instability continued after this change throughout 2020 and into 2021, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This culminated in the resignation of Muhyiddin and his cabinet in August 2021 after 17 months in power. Ismail Sabri Yaakob was appointed Prime Minister a few days later.
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, 6 days later on 16 August 2021, the day when Muhyiddin submitted his resignations as PM and of this cabinet. This cabinet is also known as the Perikatan Nasional Cabinet (PN-Cabinet) which combined 15 political parties from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) component parties, Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) component parties and United Sabah Party (PBS).
The National Alliance is a political coalition composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Homeland Solidarity Party, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and later Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN). The establishment of this party was induced by the Muhyiddin cabinet on 10 March 2020. This party was legalised and confirmed by Registrar Of Society (ROS) as a 'political coalition party' on 14 September 2020. As of 13 August 2021, Perikatan Nasional controls 50 seats, with support of another 50 MPs. The coalition was the ruling government of Malaysia from March 2020 to August 2021.
The Ismail Sabri cabinet has been formed on 21 August 2021 following the appointment of Ismail Sabri Yaakob as Prime Minister of Malaysia. This is the first Barisan Nasional (BN) cabinet following the coalition's crushing defeat at the 14th general election. Other than BN, this cabinet is fully endorsed by the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and four independent members of the lower house, with conditional support from the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (PPBM), party from Perikatan Nasional coalition (PN).
