Legal system

The Malaysian legal system is based on English common law. However, most of the laws and the constitution are adapted from Indian law. The Federal Court reviews decisions referred from the Court of Appeals; it has original jurisdiction in constitutional matters and in disputes between states or between the federal government and a state. Peninsular Malaysia and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak each has a high court.
The federal government has authority over external affairs, defense, internal security, justice (except civil law cases among Malays or other Muslims and other indigenous peoples, adjudicated under Islamic and traditional law), federal citizenship, finance, commerce, industry, communications, transportation, and other matters.

State governments

The state governments are led by chief ministers (Menteri Besar or Ketua Menteri, the latter term being used in states without hereditary rulers), selected by the state assemblies (Dewan Undangan Negeri) advising their respective sultans or governors.

Legislative branch

he bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. All seventy Senate members sit for three-year terms twenty-six are elected by the thirteen state assemblies, and forty-four are appointed by the king based on the advice of the Prime Minister.The 219 members of the Dewan Rakyat are elected from single-member districts by universal adult suffrage. Parliament has a maximum mandate of five years by law. The king may dissolve parliament at any time and usually does so upon the advice of the Prime Minister. General elections must be held within three months of the dissolution of parliament. In practice this has meant that elections have been held every three to five years at the discretion of the Prime Minister.Legislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures. Malaysia has two sources of law.[citation needed] The national constitution, the nation's supreme law, can be amended by a two-thirds majority in parliament. (Since its formation, the BN has never lacked the necessary two-thirds. The second source of law is syariah, which applies only to Muslims. The federal government has little input into the administration of syariah; it falls to the states to implement Islamic law, and interpretations vary from state to state.

Political condistions

Malaysia's predominant political party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), has held power in coalition with other parties since Malaya's independence in 1957. In 1973, an alliance of communally based parties was replaced with a broader coalition the Barisan Nasional composed of fourteen parties. Today the Barisan Nasional coalition has three prominent members the UMNO, MCA and MIC. The Prime Minister of Malaysia has always been from UMNO.

Politics of Malaysia

The politics of Malaysia takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary monarchy, where the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Senate and the House of Representatives Since independence, politics has been dominated by the Barisan Nasional coalition led by the United Malays National Organisation Although Malaysian politics has been relatively stable, critics allege that "the government, ruling party, and administration are intertwined with few countervailing forces.

Prime Minister

ABDULLAH Bin Ahmad Badaw