The unique styles of Malaysia’s government

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

Canada: Free $30 Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Free $30 Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…

In a south east country as Malaysia, politic seems to be everywhere. Take any cool or simple hang out place in the country that people choose for leisure, there’s always be and always will be politic talks. It may be cause by the instability of the government to rules the land. It seems politic have become Malaysian most talk-about subject despite any ages. In and out, one question remained unexplained which is does Malaysian really understand how politic work in the nation, through government of course. Does Malaysian really know the governmental tool or system that had been used in our government for more than 50 years since we have our independence in 1957?
 
Let’s start the tutorial of exposure shall we? To simplify the system that is used in Malaysia’s government, first we need to understand these basics. Federal government is divided to three decisive branches which are known as Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. One of powerhouse of government which is the Executive Power is consists of government cabinet that led by Prime Minister (Real executive power). The nominal executive which is Yang Di-pertuan Agung, have no solidify power on making any the decision. He has to consult the real executive (Prime Minister) in term of making amendment for any unify decision. The members of cabinet floor in the other hand must be from the representatives of Dewan Rakyat (House of People). Legislative power of federal consists of two houses- Dewan Negara (House of Senate) and Dewan Rakyat (House of People). House of people is the law making branch have 222 members of representatives. Judiciary power is the only independent body that free from any bond with Executive and Legislative power even though there is a lot of state of arguments saying that many supporters of the ruling party in government hold judicial position.
 
As been said, why do I make a statement saying that Malaysian government is unique? Or in more harsh expression, “weird”. If we refer to governmental system in U.S, all three branch of government have a clear separation of power between all three. The executive power can rule over any decisions made Legislatives and vice versa. In Malaysia’s case, how to perform a perfect separation of power if both power are combine together under the same roof? Make no mistakes because it is true. The member of House of People is also a part of the Federal Cabinet. Why separation of power is very important? It is simple. Without separation of power, one branch will have absolute power in decisions making process devoid of any reprisal. Without it, the government will mostly seem like any other dictatorship or oligarchy type of administration. In other word, without separation of power, democracy is useless because it cannot be perform perfectly.
Despite all that, separation of power is not completely impossible to be carried out in this nation but it is hard. Performing it requires enormous changes in political arena and the key element is in the Parliament. The opposition need to sever the 2/3 majority seats of the conquering ruling party in order to make the separation of power purpose become clearer. Based on the latest Malaysia’s Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-12 (General Election 12), the opposition coalition parties were able to do so by breaking the majority number. Opposition coalition parties won 82 out of 222 seats in Parliament which is the first time to happen in Malaysia’s political history. Due to that, the domination of power by ruling party was able to be challenges easily in term of making any decision that can affect the society. Political analysts predicted that the opposition sides can make more different in near future and in the upcoming General Election 13 that maybe held in 2013 or earlier, the opposition can make more surprises or even take over the government, something that never happened in history of Malaysia.
Based on my very own opinion, even if the oppositions are able to have a landslide victory in General Election 13, it will never going to make any different at all. It is just going to be a case of different faces, but same old games. Hypothetically speaking, if the opposition sides somehow manage to rule over the government and become the new ruling party, what will they do differently? Nothing. There’s still no clear separation of power and the new opposition sides are also need to have a landslide victory and win over the heart of the people, which is a very hard thing to do in order to be able to perform separation of power. It takes 50 years for the current opposition parties to be able to break the domination of 2/3 majority in Parliament, how long is it for a new opposition sides (if the ruling party loose in General Election 13) to do that? Does it mean for the next smooth practice of separation of power, the people need to wait another 50 years? It is irrational. Malaysia is a developing country. We need stability in politic to ensure the harmonious society to help economic growth. Without it, Malaysia will still be lacking in term of development and cannot compete with any other similar country in the region, Singapore for example. Separation of power is the key to the constant politic and without it Malaysia cannot shoot for the stars in near future. In 4 month period, I will be 21 years old and eligible to for in election but I will not do so unless the Executive Body is excluded from Legislative because I believe my vote to any parties will not make any different. Once those for branches become independent from each other, I will take Malaysia’s political arena seriously. Until then, I keep my finger crossed and my hope high.
Share with friends
You can publish this article on your website as long as you provide a link back to this page.

2 Comments

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.


*