The Parliament of Malaysia

Abstract

The Malaysian Parliament consists of the Federal Monarch (Yang diPertuan Agong), the Senate (Dewan Negara) and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat). The Parliament's term is based on the term of the elected lower house. In reality, the Senate is mostly filled by political have-beens, defeated candidates or groomed talents of the federal or state ruling parties. As ministers and deputy ministers must be parliamentarians, the Senate becomes a convenient route for the appointment of unelected politicians and non-politicians to join the Executive. While bills may be generated by either House and the approval of the other House is required for passage, the Senate can only delay a money Bill by the House of Representatives by a month and any other Bill by a year. This makes the Senate an ineffective check-and-balance on the House of Representatives. The United Malays National Organisation – a political party – has been the dominant political party in Malaysia for most of its history.