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Malaysia Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Malaysia
Official Name: Malaysia
Capital: Kuala Lumpur
Area: 329,750 square kilometres ( 127,317 square miles )
Major cities (Population)
Kuala Lumpur 1,238,000 (1995 estimate)
Ipoh 382,633 (1991)
Johor Baharu 328,646 (1991)
George Town 13,000 (1990 estimate)
Population: 20,140,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 2.4 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Constitutional monarchy
Independence: 31 August 1957 (from the United Kingdom)
Constitution: 31 August 1957; amended 16 September 1963
Voting Rights: Universal at age 21
Government
The federation of Malaysia is made up of 13 states: Perlis, Kedah, Pinang, Perak, Selangor, Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sabah, and Sarawak. Sarawak and Sabah are self-governing states with foreign policy and other powers delegated from the federal government. In 9 of the 11 peninsular states, rulers are hereditary and make up a Conference of Rulers. Every five years these nine rulers elect one of their number as king (Yang di-Pertuan Agong). The king is head of state, but executive power lies mainly with the prime minister and cabinet. The parliament has two houses: the 70-member senate (Dewan Negara), 26 of whom are elected by the legislative assemblies of the 13 states, 4 from the 2 federal territories, and 40 nominated by the king; and the house of representatives (Dewan Rakyat), whose 180 members are elected by universal suffrage. The voting age is 21.
Recent History
Great Britain became interested in the peninsula in the 18th century and acquired the island of Pinang from the Sultan of Kedah in 1786. By the end of the 19th century, Great Britain controlled as colonies or protectorates all the Malay states, including Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo (which had been ruled by the Sultan of Brunei). The British established rubber, cacao, and palm oil plantations, and brought in Chinese and Indian labour to help run them.
Under Japanese occupation during World War II, the people’s desire for independence from foreign domination grew stronger. In 1946 the British created the Malayan Union out of Melaka, Pinang, and the nine Malay states on the peninsula. In 1948 this union became the Federation of Malaya. That same year, Communist insurrections erupted and guerrilla terrorism spread throughout the countryside. It was not until 1960 that the “emergency” was declared over, although it had been of minor proportions since 1954. Communist guerrilla warfare continued on a smaller scale against both the Malaysian and Thai governments until the Malay Communist party signed a formal peace treaty in 1989.
Support for the Communists had started to fall away in the early 1950s after the United Kingdom made it clear that it was eventually prepared to cede independence to Malaya. In the first federal elections, held in 1955, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA), and the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) formed an alliance, led by UMNO leader Tunku Abdul Rahman, which won 51 of the 52 seats contested. Independence followed in August 1957. Six years later the Federation of Malaya and the former British colonies of Singapore, Sarawak, and North Borneo (Sabah) united to become the Federation of Malaysia to avoid the possibility of a Communist takeover in Singapore. However, Malaya’s worries that the incorporation of predominantly Chinese Singapore would upset its delicate racial balance proved justified. Race riots erupted within a short time and caused Singapore reluctantly to leave the federation and become an independent state in 1965.
Singapore’s withdrawal from the federation did not bring an end to racial tension in Malaysia. In 1969 serious racial clashes between Chinese and Malays led to the declaration of a state of emergency. Ethnic Malays were not satisfied with their share of the country’s wealth, their access to business opportunities, and other areas of society that were dominated by ethnic Chinese and other groups. The government responded by introducing the New Economic Policy (NEP), by which it hoped to raise the economic level of indigenous Malays (Bumiputra) and end the association of race and status in society. It was a policy of positive discrimination in favour of Malays, and it set targets for increasing the share of businesses owned by indigenous Malays. Although the target for 1990 was not met, the economic level of the Malays has improved and the racial tensions that exist in the country have been kept under control. In 1991 a new National Development Policy preserved the concept of Malay development until at least the turn of the century, although it emphasized growth for all races. It also avoided putting a date on achieving what had been the 1990 target of Malay ownership of a 30 per cent share of the corporate sector.
The current king took office in April 1994 and will serve until the end of 1998. His name is Tunku Ja’afar Ibni Al-Marhum Tunku Abdul Rahman. Since independence, political power has been in the hands of the UMNO, and since 1981 its president, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has been prime minister.
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