Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously serving member, while in others it refers to the oldest member. Recently, the title Mother of the House or Mother of Parliament has also been used, although the usage varies among countries; it is either the female alternative to Father of the House, being applied when the relevant member is a woman, or refers to the oldest or longest-serving woman without reference to male members.
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often have a different title. The terms congressman/congresswoman or deputy are equivalent terms used in other jurisdictions. The term parliamentarian is also sometimes used for members of parliament, but this may also be used to refer to unelected government officials with specific roles in a parliament and other expert advisers on parliamentary procedure such as the Senate parliamentarian in the United States. The term is also used to the characteristic of performing the duties of a member of a legislature, for example: "The two party leaders often disagreed on issues, but both were excellent parliamentarians and cooperated to get many good things done."
The prime ministerof 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 the prime minister as a member of Parliament (MP) who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs. The Prime Minister 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 as the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya and was amended in 1963 to form the Constitution of Malaysia, 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 House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the national legislature of Indonesia. It is considered the lower house, while the Regional Representative Council (DPD) serve as the upper house; while the Indonesian constitution does not explicitly mention the divide, the DPR enjoys more power, privilege, and prestige compared to the DPD.
Party switching is any change in political party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one currently holding elected office.
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 Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat is the highest-ranking presiding officer of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia. They are responsible for convening sessions of the Dewan Rakyat, organising debates, and examining the admissibility of petitions, bills, and amendments. In the absence of the Speaker, one of their deputies will take their place.
General elections were held in the Federation of Malaya on Wednesday, 19 August 1959 for members of the first Parliament of the Federation of Malaya, the first parliamentary election in Malaya. It was the third national-wide election held in Malaya since the end of World War II. Malaya later formed Malaysia with three other states in 1963. Voting took place in all 104 parliamentary constituencies of Malaya, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. Voter turnout was 73%.
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 12th Malaysian Parliament is the last meeting of the legislative branch of the government of Malaysia, the Parliament, comprising the directly elected lower house, the Dewan Rakyat, and the appointed upper house, the Dewan Negara. It met for the first time at the Malaysian Houses of Parliament on 28 April 2008 and met for the last time on 29 November 2012. The King then dissolved the Parliament on 3 April 2013. The dissolution was announced by the Prime Minister Najib Razak after it consented by the King.
Johari bin Abdul is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 11th Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat since December 2022. He served as the State Leader of the Opposition of Kedah from October 2022 and Member of the Kedah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Gurun from May 2018 to his resignations in December 2022, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sungai Petani from March 2008 and Chairman of the Pakatan Harapan Backbenchers Club (PHBBC) from August 2018 to November 2022 respectively. He is a member of the People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
Wan Junaidi bin Tuanku Jaafar is a Malaysian politician, lawyer and former senior police officer who has served as the 8th Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak since January 2024. He previously served as the 19th President of the Dewan Negara and Senator from June 2023 to his resignation in January 2024.
The Selangor State Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of the Malaysian state of Selangor. The State Assembly is composed of 56 members representing single-member constituencies throughout the state. Elections are held no more than five years apart, and by Malaysian political convention, are conducted simultaneously with elections to the federal parliament and other state assemblies.
The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly is the legislative chamber of the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Sarawak; the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak forms the other part of the legislature. The Assembly is modelled after the traditions of the Westminster parliamentary system, which originates from the practices of the British Parliament. The executive branch of government is drawn from the elected members of the Assembly. The State Legislative Assembly sits at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building located in Petra Jaya in Kuching, the state capital.
The following is the list of members of the Dewan Negara (Senate) of the 14th Malaysian Parliament as of May 2021. 26 out of 70 senators, i.e. two senators for each state, are elected by their respective State Legislative Assembly for three-year term. The other 44, including four senators representing Federal Territories, are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong also for three-year term.
The following is the list of members of the Dewan Negara (Senate) of the 15th Malaysian Parliament. 26 out of 70 senators, i.e. two senators for each state, are elected by their respective State Legislative Assembly for three-year term. The other 44, including four senators representing Federal Territories, are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong also for three-year term.
Mutang Tagal was a Malaysian politician, lawyer and businessman who served as 20th President of the Dewan Negara, Senator from February to his death in office in May 2024 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bukit Mas from April 1982 to October 1990. He was Member of the Supreme Council of the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), a component party of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and formerly Barisan Nasional (BN) coalitions. He is the second shortest-serving President of the Dewan Negara after Syed Sheh Barakbah after serving in the position for only about 3 months. He was an ethnic Lun Bawang as well as younger brother of former State Assistant Minister of Communications of Sarawak and former Member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Ba'kelalan Judson Sakai Tagal who died in a helicopter crash in 2004. He was also the first Dayak and Sarawak indigenous President of the Dewan Negara in the history of Malaysia. In addition, he was President of the Orang Ulu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OUCCI), Vice President of the Sarawak Business Federation (SBF), Member of the Supreme Council of the Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Patron of the Lawas Shooting and Archery Association (LSAA), Advisor to the Northern Sarawak Journalists Association (NSJA), Legal Advisor to the Sarawak Lun Bawang Association, Member of the Sarawak Advocates Association, Member of the Sabah Advocates Association, Member of the Malaysian Bar Council and was an honorary consul of Romania in Sarawak from January 2017 to his death in May 2024.
