NOTE 5: MALAYSIAN ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM AND STRUCTURES

What is the Theory of Separation of Powers ?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------How many houses in the Parliament?
Explain on the Selection of The King in this country.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

LEGISLATIVE
- the body that makes laws known as legislation
- components of the Federal legislative :
1) _______________________________
- Its members are known as __________________ who have won the general election.
- The 10th Parliament has 222 members. According to Article 46(2) of Federal
Constitution, the division is as follows :
- Members of Parliament must be _______________________ old or above.
2) ________________________________
- its members are appointed and known as ________________________
- According to ___________________ of the Federal Constitution, memberships of the
Senate are as follows:
a) 2 members for each state elected by the State Legislative Assembly
b) 2 members for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and 1 member for the Federal
Territory of Labuan appointed by the King.
c) ______________ members appointed by the King.
- total members of the Senate is __________. They should be ___________ old or above.

- Members appointed by the King are persons who have rendered distinguished public
service; have achieved distinction in the professions, commerce, industry, agriculture,
cultural activities, social services; representatives of racial minorities and interest of
aborigines.
- a Senator shall hold office for three years and is not affected by a dissolution of
Parliament
3) ______________________________
- Head of the Legislative
- authority to assent (approve) bills (laws) that have been passed by the Dewan Rakyat
and Dewan Negara.
- the King has the authority to _________________________ the Parliament. However
this is carried out with advice from the Cabinet.
- Structure of the Parliament:
Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King)

Dewan Negara (Senate)

Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives)

Yang di-Pertua (President of the Senate)

Yang di-Pertua (Speaker)

Senators

Members of Parliament

* a Yang di-Pertua (President) and a Timbalan Yang di-Pertua (Deputy President) of the
Dewan Negara are chosen by the Senators amongst them and chairs Senate meetings.

a Yang di-Pertua (Speaker) and two Timbalan Yang di-Pertua (Deputy Speakers)
of the Dewan Rakyat are elected by the Members of Parliament. The Speaker is
either a member of the House or qualified for election as such a member. Deputy
Speakers are members of the House.

Function of the Parliament

among the functions of the Parliament :

1. legislative authority : _______________________

2. ___________________________, additional taxes or abolish any existing tax
3. _________________________

In general, the Parliament only make laws concerning matters stated under the
Federal List or the Concurrent List in the Ninth Schedule of the Federal
Constitution. Matters stated under the State List falls under the State Legislative
Assembly.
examples of matters under each list :

____________________ justice, finance, defense, health, internal security, external

affairs, education etc.
_________________ land, agriculture, mining, forestry, Islamic affairs etc.
__________________________ social welfare, scholarships, protection of wildlife,
housing, culture and sports etc.

Law Making Proses

involves several stages :

1. Draft of the law is formulated by the respective ministry with advice from the
Attorney Generals Department. The draft is then discussed in the cabinet
meeting. The draft is then printed and distributed to all the MPs. It is now known
as a Bill. ( A draft can aslo originate from an individual MP. This is known as a
Private Members Bill).

2. at the House of Representatives, the bill goes through 4 stages :

a. ____________________ the respective minister / deputy minister will
table the bill and the Secretary of the House will read the bills headings.
b. ____________________ the bill is debated by the MPs. (the first and
second reading can be held in the same session, i.e. the same day)
c. _____________________ (members are the MPs) will look into the views
and make amendments if needed.
d. _______________________ the bill is tabled again to be passed. The
MPs will take a vote and the bill is passed if there is a 2/3 majority for it
(in some cases, only a simple majority is needed). It is then given to the
Senate.

1. The bill goes through the same process at the Senate and passed. The bill is then
sent to the King. The Senate cannot veto a bill but can only postpone its approval
for one month (or for some bills, one year). After that period, even though the
Senate does not pass it, the bill is sent to the King.
2. The bill is then presented to the King (Yang di-Pertuan Agong) for his assent /
approval. He has _____________ to decide. If he doesnt assent to the bill, he has
to return it within that period to the Parliament together with his reasons or any
amendments.
3. Both Houses then have ______________ to debate and pass the bill and present it
again to the King.
4. The King is given another _________________ to approve it. However if he
doesnt decide after that period, the bill automatically becomes a law, as if he has
approved it.

The law can only be implemented after it is made known to the public by
publishing it in the Government Gazette.
Implementation of a law can be postponed or have retrospective effect after being
published. This is decided by the Parliament.
Laws that are made by the Parliament are called Acts. Laws made other bodies
have different names :

a. State Legislative Assembly (except Sarawak) ___________________

b. State Legislative Assembly of Sarawak _________________________
c. laws passed by the King during Emergency _______________________

Parliament meets 3 - 4 times in a term (one term is almost one year).

For each meeting, the duration is two weeks for the House of Representatives and
one week for the Senate.
Each day is known as a session.

Previleges of Parliament

The validity of any proceeding in either House or any committee cannot be

questioned in any court.
No person can be charged in any court on anything said or any vote given when
taking part in any proceedings of either House. This is to allow MPs to discuss
freely on any abuse of power or scandals without fear. However, this does not
apply to several issues that are protected by law.
No person can be charged in any court on anything published by or under the
authority of either House.

Executive

In general: ______________________________________________________

What are the components of the executive?

1. ________________________________
2. ________________________________
3. ________________________________
Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King)

head of state which has no Sultan.

has 4 major roles in the executive:

____________________________
o
o
o

all government affairs are done in his name

he should act according to the advice given to him by the Cabinet or a
minister acting under the authority of the Cabinet
he must act according to the advice when given

_______________________________
o
o

may act in his discretion

as a head of a parliamentary democratic country, he should follow
convention (agreed/normal practice), i.e. he appoints the Member of
Parliament whom he feels will get majority support in the Dewan Rakyat
(normally it is the head of the ruling party)

__________________________________
o
o

on the advice of the Prime Minister

can be appointed from members of both Houses

___________________________________________________
o
o

The Cabinet

may act in his discretion

request made by the Prime Minister

Started with the Member System in 1951 as the first cabinet-like structure.
after the 1955 General Election, Tunku Abdul Rahman was appointed as the Chief
Minister of Malaya and formed his cabinet.
Ministers are appointed by the ____________ with advice from the Prime
Minister. Ministers can be appointed from members of both Houses.
Deputy Ministers are appointed by the ________________ with advice from the
Prime Minister. Deputy Ministers can be appointed from members of both
Houses.
Parliamentary Secretaries are appointed by the ____________________. They
assist the Ministers and Deputy Ministers and has the same authority as them.
Ministers have collective responsibility toward decisions made by the Cabinet.
Political Secretaries are appointed by the Prime Ministers. They need not be a
member of either House. Their duties are determined by the Cabinet and usually
work under Ministers.
The Cabinet is seen as the management body that gives directives.
Implementation is done by staff from various ministries, departments and
agencies.
Each ministry has its own Secretary as the head of the government officers in that
ministry.

Prime Minister

so far Malaysia has had five Prime Ministers :

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Tunku Abdul Rahman from 1957 to 1970

Tun Abdul Razak from 1970 to 1976
Tun Hussein Onn from 1976 to 1981
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad from 1981 t0 2003
Dato Seri Abdullah from 2003 till 2009
Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak-from 2009- till present

the Prime Minister hold several positions in and out of the government that gives
him authority and influence :

_____________________________.
o
o

he has the power to choose anybody to be appointed as a minister by the

King.
he is the chairman of the cabinet meeting (every Wednesday). Therefore
he can decide and control the agenda. Likewise, he can also control the
discussions during the meeting.

_____________________________.
o

Leads the administration that decides on policies of the government.

Plays an important role to promote policies and programs of the

government.

___________________________
o
o

The Prime Minister always has been the leader of the party that wins the
elections.
has the power to :

a. Decide who will become a candidate in the election.

b. plays an important role in deciding policies and programs in the partys
manifesto
c. Decide when to request to the King for the Parliament to be dissolved.
o
o
o

He can choose anybody to be nominated as the 40 members of the Senate

that are appointed by the King.
Appoint and decide the number of political secretaries.
Appoint somebody to any body / company which the government has
interest in it.

__________________________________
o
o
o
o

relations with foreign countries.

decide which country to establish relations
decide status of representation in a country
determine Malaysias role in the international arena