Dewan Rakyat

House of Representatives Dewan Rakyat
12th Parliament
Type
Type	Lower house
Leadership
Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat	Pandikar Amin Mulia, BN - UMNO since 28 April 2008
Structure
Members	222 Members of Parliament
Political groups	(as of 29 January 2011)   BN (137)   PR (75)   SAPP (2)   PSM (1)   Independents (7)
Last general election	8 March 2008
Meeting place
Malaysian Houses of Parliament, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Website
http://www.parlimen.gov.my/

Malaysia

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Malaysia

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The Dewan Rakyat (Malay for House of Representatives, literally People's Hall) is the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia. All bills must usually be passed by both the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara (the Senate), before they are given Royal Assent by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Monarch). Members of the Dewan Rakyat are often referred to as Members of Parliament or MPs. Like the Dewan Negara, the Dewan Rakyat meets at the Malaysian Houses of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur.

Scope and procedure

As the ultimate legislative body in Malaysia, Parliament is responsible for passing, amending and repealing acts of law. It is subordinate to the Head of State, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Monarch), under Article 39 of the Constitution.^[1]

Parliament's members are permitted to speak on any subject without fear of censure outside Parliament; the only body that can censure an MP is the House Committee of Privileges. Such "Parliamentary immunity" takes effect from the moment a member of Parliament is sworn in, and only applies to when that member has the floor; it does not apply to statements made outside the House. An exception is made by the Sedition Act passed by Parliament in the wake of the May 13 racial riots in 1969. Under the Act, all public discussion of repealing certain Articles of the Constitution dealing with Bumiputra privileges such as Article 153 is illegal. This prohibition is extended to all members of both houses of Parliament.^[2] Members of Parliament are also forbidden from criticising the King and judges.^[3]

The executive government, comprising the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, is usually drawn from members of Parliament; most of its members are typically members of the Dewan Rakyat. After a general election or the resignation or death of a Prime Minister, the King selects the Prime Minister, who is the Head of Government but constitutionally subordinate to him, from the Dewan Rakyat. In practice, this is usually the leader of the largest party in Parliament. The Prime Minister then submits a list containing the names of members of his Cabinet, who will then be appointed as Ministers by the King. Members of the Cabinet must also be members of Parliament. If the Prime Minister loses the confidence of the Dewan Rakyat, whether by losing a no-confidence vote or failing to pass a budget, he must submit his resignation to the King, who will then appoint a new Prime Minister. The Cabinet formulates government policy and drafts bills, meeting in private. Its members must accept "collective responsibility" for the decisions the Cabinet makes, even if some members disagree with it; if they do not wish to be held responsible for Cabinet decisions, they must resign. Although the Constitution makes no provision for it, there is also a Deputy Prime Minister, who is the de facto successor of the Prime Minister should he die or be otherwise incapacitated.^[1]

A proposed act of law begins its life when a particular government minister or ministry prepares a first draft with the assistance of the Attorney-General's Department. The draft, known as a bill, is then discussed by the Cabinet. If it is agreed to submit it to Parliament, the bill is distributed to all MPs. It then goes through three readings before the Dewan Rakyat. The first reading is where the minister or his deputy submits it to Parliament. At the second reading, the bill is discussed and debated by MPs. At the third reading, the minister or his deputy formally submit it to a vote for approval. A 2/3 majority is usually required to pass the bill, but in certain cases, a simple majority suffices. Should the bill pass, it is sent to the Dewan Negara, where the three readings are carried out again. The Dewan Negara may choose not to pass the bill, but this only delays its passage by a month, or in some cases, a year; once this period expires, the bill is considered to have been passed by the house.^[4]

If the bill passes, it is presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong who has 30 days to consider the bill. Should he disagree with it, he returns it to Parliament with a list of suggested amendments. Parliament must then reconsider the bill and its proposed amendments and return it to the King within 30 days if they pass it again. The King then has another 30 days to give the royal assent; otherwise, it passes into law. The law does not take effect until it is published in the Government Gazette.^[5]

The government attempts to maintain top secrecy regarding bills debated; MPs generally receive copies of bills only a few days before they are debated, and newspapers are rarely provided with copies of the bills before they are debated. In some cases, such as a 1968 amendment to the Constitution, an MP may be presented with a bill to be debated on the same day it is tabled, and all three readings may be carried out that day itself.^[6] In rare circumstances, the government may release a White paper containing particular proposals that will eventually be incorporated into a bill; this has been done for legislation such as the Universities and University Colleges Act.^[7]

Although the process above assumes only the government can propose bills, there also exists a process for Private Member's Bills. However, as in most other legislatures following the Westminster System, few members of Parliament actually introduce bills.^[8] To present a Private Member's Bill, the member in question must seek the leave of the House in question to debate the bill before it is moved. Originally, it was allowed to debate the bill in the process of seeking leave, but this process was discontinued by an amendment to the Standing Orders of Parliament.^[9] It is also possible for members of the Dewan Negara to initiate bills; however, only cabinet ministers are permitted to move finance-related bills, which must be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.^[10]

It is often alleged that legislation proposed by the opposition parties, which must naturally be in the form of a Private Member's Bill, is not seriously considered by Parliament. Some have gone as far as to claim that the rights of members of Parliament to debate proposed bills have been severely curtailed by incidents such as an amendment of the Standing Orders that permitted the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat to amend written copies of MPs' speeches before they were made. Nevertheless, it is admitted by some of these critics that "Government officials often face sharp questioning in Parliament, although this [i]s not always reported in detail in the press."^[11]

Membership and machinery

A member of the Dewan Rakyat must be at least 21 years of age and must not be a member of the Dewan Negara. The presiding officer of the Dewan Rakyat is the Speaker, who is elected at the beginning of each Parliament or after the vacation of the post, by the MPs. Two Deputy Speakers are also elected, and one of them sits in place of the Speaker when he is absent. The Dewan Rakyat machinery is supervised by the Clerk to the House who is appointed by the King; he may only be removed from office through the manner prescribed for judges or by mandatory retirement at age 60.^[12]

As of the 2008 general election, Dewan Rakyat has 222 elected members. Members are elected from single-member constituencies, drawn by the Election Commission based on the population. Constituency boundaries are redrawn every ten years based on the latest census.

Each Dewan Rakyat lasts for a maximum of five years, after which a general election must be called. In the general election, voters select a candidate to represent their constituency in the Dewan Rakyat. The plurality voting system is used; the candidate who gains the most votes wins the seat.

Before a general election can be called, the King must first dissolve Parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister.^[12] According to Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has his right at his own discretion either to dissolve or hold on the parliament.

Current composition

The current Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat is Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia. His deputies are Santubong MP Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and Beluran MP Datuk Ronald Kiandee.

Main article: Malaysian general election, 2008

e • d Summary of the 8 March 2008 Malaysian Dewan Rakyat election results

	Votes	% of vote	Seats	% of seats	+/–
National Front (Barisan Nasional):	4,082,411	50.27	140	63.1	58
United Malays National Organization (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu, UMNO)	2,381,725	29.33	79	35.6	30
Malaysian Chinese Association (Persatuan Cina Malaysia, MCA)	840,489	10.35	15	6.8	16
Malaysian Indian Congress (Kongres India Se-Malaysia, MIC)	179,422	2.21	3	1.4	6
Malaysian People's Movement Party (Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, Gerakan)	184,548	2.27	2	0.9	8
United Traditional Bumiputera Party (Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, PBB)	131,243	1.62	14	6.3	3
Sarawak United People's Party (Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak, SUPP)	119,264	1.47	6	2.7
Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (Parti Demokratik Progresif Sarawak, SPDP)	52,645	0.65	4	1.8
Sarawak People's Party (Parti Rakyat Sarawak, PRS)	33,410	0.41	6	2.7	6
United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Pertubuhan Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Bersatu, UPKO)	58,856	0.72	4	1.8
United Sabah Party (Parti Bersatu Sabah, PBS)	44,885	0.55	3	1.4	1
Sabah Progressive Party (Parti Maju Sabah, SAPP)	30,827	0.38	2	1.4	2
United Sabah People's Party* (Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah, PBRS)			1	0.5
Liberal Democratic Party (Parti Liberal Demokratik, LDP)	8,297	0.10	1	0.5	1
People's Progressive Party (Parti Progresif Penduduk Malaysia, PPP)	16,800	0.21	0	0	1
People's Front (Now known as Pakatan Rakyat (or People's Pact)):	3,796,464	46.75	82	36.9	62
People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR)	1,509,080	18.58	31	14.0	30
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS)	1,140,676	14.05	23	10.4	16
Democratic Action Party (Parti Tindakan Demokratik, DAP)	1,118,025	13.77	28	12.6	16
Non-partisans (and others)	65,399	0.81	0	0	1
Overall total	7,944,274	100	222	100	3
*PBRS won its only seat uncontested on nomination day Source: Sin Chew Jit Poh[13], Malaysia

See also: Breakdown of Members of Parliament elected 2008

Current seat holding in Malaysia's Dewan Rakyat as of 29 January 2011

	Seats
National Front (Barisan Nasional):	137
United Malays National Organization (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu, UMNO)	78
Malaysian Chinese Association (Persatuan Cina Malaysia, MCA)	15
Malaysian Indian Congress (Kongres India Se-Malaysia, MIC)	4
Malaysian People's Movement Party (Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, Gerakan)	2
United Traditional Bumiputera Party (Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, PBB)	14
Sarawak United People's Party (Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak, SUPP)	5
Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (Parti Demokratik Progresif Sarawak, SPDP)	4
Sarawak People's Party (Parti Rakyat Sarawak, PRS)	6
United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Pertubuhan Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Bersatu, UPKO)	4
United Sabah Party (Parti Bersatu Sabah, PBS)	3
United Sabah People's Party (Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah, PBRS)	1
Liberal Democratic Party (Parti Liberal Demokratik, LDP)	1
People's Progressive Party (Parti Progresif Penduduk Malaysia, PPP)	0
People's Pact (Pakatan Rakyat):	75
People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat, PKR)	23
Islamic Party of Malaysia (Parti Islam SeMalaysia, PAS)	23
Democratic Action Party (Parti Tindakan Demokratik, DAP)	29
Socialist Party of Malaysia (Parti Sosialis Malaysia, PSM)	1
Sabah Progressive Party (Parti Maju Sabah, SAPP)	2
Non-partisans/independents (and others)	7
Vacant	0
Overall total	222
Composition of current parliament is subject to change due to unexpected circumstances. (1) The MPs representing non-partisans or independents include: Dato' Ibrahim Ali, MP representing Pasir Mas, formerly ran under PAS ticket during the election and won. Tan Tee Beng, Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri, Wee Choo Keong, and N Gobalakrishnan who were elected as members of Keadilan but in 2010 quit the party to sit as Independents. Zulkifli Nordin, who was dismissed by Keadilan in March 2010 for disciplinary reasons.

Notes and references

1. ^ ^{a b} "Branches of Government in Malaysia". Retrieved Feb. 3, 2006.
2. ^ Means, Gordon P. (1991). Malaysian Politics: The Second Generation, pp. 14, 15. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-588988-6.
3. ^ Myytenaere, Robert (1998). "The Immunities of Members of Parliament". Retrieved Feb. 12, 2006.
4. ^ Shuid, Mahdi & Yunus, Mohd. Fauzi (2001). Malaysian Studies, pp. 33, 34. Longman. ISBN 983-74-2024-3.
5. ^ Shuid & Yunus, p. 34.
6. ^ Tan, Chee Koon & Vasil, Raj (ed., 1984). Without Fear or Favour, p. 7. Eastern Universities Press. ISBN 967-908-051-X.
7. ^ Tan & Vasil, p. 11.
8. ^ Ram, B. Suresh (Dec. 16, 2005). "Pro-people, passionate politician". The Sun.
9. ^ Lim, Kit Siang (1997). "Consensus Against Corruption". Retrieved Feb. 11, 2006.
10. ^ Henderson, John William, Vreeland, Nena, Dana, Glenn B., Hurwitz, Geoffrey B., Just, Peter, Moeller, Philip W. & Shinn, R.S. (1977). Area Handbook for Malaysia, p. 219. American University, Washington D.C., Foreign Area Studies. LCCN 771294.
11. ^ "Malaysia". Retrieved Jan. 22, 2006.
12. ^ ^{a b} "Government: Parliament: Dewan Rakyat". Retrieved February 8, 2006.^{[dead link]}
13. ^ "3 Sin Chew Jit Poh nationwide results statistics". Sin Chew Jit Poh. March 10, 2008. http://www.sinchew-i.com/special/election2008/result.phtml. Retrieved 2008-03-10.