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Asia and Oceania
Malaysia |
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| Last reviewed: 13 May 2009 |
Country information
POLITICS
Recent Political Developments
On 3 April 2009 former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stepped down from his post. He has been replaced by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak of the Barisan Nasional Party, previously the Deputy Prime Minister.
System of Government
The Head of the Government is the Prime Minister, who must be a member of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives), the Lower House of Parliament. The Upper House, the Dewan Negara (Senate), is composed of Senators appointed by the Government for a period of three years. Each of the 13 states of Malaysia has its own State Assembly headed by a Chief Minister who heads the State Government. The State Governments enjoy significant devolved power in specific fields (infrastructure development, land and the exploitation of natural resources - although not forestry). The Sultans (or Raja in the case of Perlis, Yang di-Pertuan Besar in the case of Negri Sembilan, and Governors in the case of Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak), enjoy sovereign authority in their states.
Elections
Elections are held every five years. The Barisan Nasional coalition was returned to power on 8 March 2008, but with a much reduced simple majority. For the first time since independence, the ruling alliance, which won the 21 March 2004 general election by a landslide, lost its two-thirds majority of the seats in Parliament, and five of 13 federal states to the three opposition parties, which together formed the Paktan Rakyat coalition.
