Malaysia+Politics

// Malaysia's national symbol is the tiger. // // . //
 * History || Geography || Culture || Economics || Politics || Class Activities || Resources ||

// Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy. //
 * headed by a King as well as a Parliament consisting of a non-elected upper house and an elected lower house
 * all Peninsular Malaysian states have hereditary rulers (commonly referred to as sultans) except Melaka and Pulau Pinang (Penang). Those two states along with Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia have governors appointed by government.
 * Powers of state governments are limited by federal constitution; under terms of federation Sabah and Sarawak retain certain constitutional prerogatives (e.g., right to maintain their own immigration controls

// Much like the United States, the Malaysian government is made up of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. // > ** Legislative Branch: ** > > ** Judicial Branch: **
 * Executive Branch: **
 * chief of state: King - Tuanku Abdul HALIM Mu'adzam Shah (selected on 13 December 2011; installed on 11 April 2012); the position of the king is primarily ceremonial
 * head of government: Prime Minister Mohamed NAJIB bin Abdul Razak (since 3 April 2009); Deputy Prime Minister MUHYIDDIN bin Mohamed Yassin (since 9 April 2009)
 * cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister from among the members of Parliament with consent of the king
 * elections: kings are elected by and from the hereditary rulers of nine of the states for five-year terms; selection is based on the principle of rotation among rulers of states; elections were last held on 14 October 2011 (next to be held in 2016); prime ministers are designated from among the members of the House of Representatives; following legislative elections, the leader who commands the support of the majority of members in the House becomes prime minister (since independence this has been the leader of the UMNO party)
 * election results: Tuanku Abdul HALIM Mu'adzam Shah elected king; Mohamed NAJIB bin Abdul Razak was sworn in as Prime Minister after winning a party election for the presidency of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the party that leads the coalition with a majority of seats in parliament
 * Parliament consists of Senate [Dewan Negara] (70 seats; 44 members appointed by the king, 26 elected by 13 state legislatures to serve three-year terms with a two term limit) and House of Representatives [Dewan Rakyat] (222 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve up to five-year terms)
 * Elections: House of Representatives - last held on 8 March 2008 (next to be held by June 2013)
 * civil courts include Federal Court, Court of Appeal, High Court of Malaya on peninsula Malaysia, and High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in states of Borneo (judges are appointed by the king on the advice of the prime minister)
 * sharia courts include Sharia Appeal Court, Sharia High Court, and Sharia Subordinate Courts at state-level and deal with religious and family matters such as custody, divorce, and inheritance only for Muslims
 * decisions of sharia courts cannot be appealed to civil courts

// Malaysia is made up of 13 states and 1 federal territory. //
 * States: Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Terengganu
 * Federal territory: Wilayah Persekutuan

All the information on this page was taken from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/my.html

© Kristin Miller 2012. Last revised: May 8, 2012. All Rights Reserved. For more information, please contact: Kristin Miller krmiller@hotmail.com