Parliament of Malaysia in the context of "Malaysian Houses of Parliament"

Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. A federal constitutional monarchy, it consists of 13 states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia on the Indochinese Peninsula and East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Peninsular Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Thailand, as well as maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia; East Malaysia shares land borders with Brunei and Indonesia, and maritime borders with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the country's national capital, largest city, and the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government, while Putrajaya is the federal administrative capital, representing the seat of both the executive branch (the Cabinet, federal ministries, and federal agencies) and the judicial branch of the federal government. With a population of over 34 million, it is the world's 42nd-most populous country.

The country has its origins in the Malay kingdoms, which, from the 18th century on, became subject to the British Empire, along with the British Straits Settlements protectorate. During World War II, British Malaya, along with other nearby British and American colonies, was occupied by the Empire of Japan. Following three years of occupation, Peninsular Malaysia was briefly unified as the Malayan Union in 1946 until 1948 when it was restructured as the Federation of Malaya. The country achieved independence on 31 August 1957. On 16 September 1963, independent Malaya united with the then British crown colonies of North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore to become Malaysia. In August 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation and became a separate, independent country.

Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a federal territory of Malaysia. It is the most populous city in the country, covering an area of 243 km (94 sq mi) with a census population of 2,075,600 as of 2024. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 8.8 million people as of 2024. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Southeast Asia, both in population and economic development.

The city serves as the cultural, financial, tourism, political and economic centre of Malaysia. It is also home to the Malaysian parliament (consisting of the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara) and the Istana Negara, the official residence of the monarch (Yang di-Pertuan Agong). Kuala Lumpur was first developed around 1857 as a town serving the tin mines of the region, and important figures such as Yap Ah Loy and Frank Swettenham were instrumental in the early development of the city during the late 19th century. It served as the capital of Selangor from 1880 until 1978. Kuala Lumpur was the founding capital of the Federation of Malaya and its successor, Malaysia. The city remained the seat of the executive and judicial branches of the Malaysian federal government until these were relocated to Putrajaya in early 1999. However, some sections of the political bodies still remain in Kuala Lumpur. The city is one of the three Federal Territories of Malaysia, enclaved within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Putrajaya (Malay pronunciation: [ˌputraˈd͡ʒaja, ˌputrəˈd͡ʒajə] ), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (Malay: Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya), is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The seat of the federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya because of overcrowding and congestion, whilst the seat of the judiciary of Malaysia was later moved to Putrajaya in 2003. Kuala Lumpur remains as Malaysia's national capital city per the constitution and is still the seat of the head of state (Yang di-Pertuan Agong) and the national legislature (Parliament of Malaysia), as well as being the country's commercial and financial centre.

The establishment of Putrajaya was the idea of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. First thought of in the 1990s, Putrajaya was envisioned to be “a laboratory for a new form of electronic government" that would emphasize new adoption of and investment in internet, media, and digital communications. The development of Putrajaya began in August 1995 and was completed at an estimated cost of US$8.1 billion. On 1 February 2001, Putrajaya became Malaysia's third federal territory, after Kuala Lumpur in 1974 and Labuan in 1984. Putrajaya is also a part of MSC Malaysia, a special economic zone that covers the Klang Valley.

The Cabinet of Malaysia (Malay: Jemaah Menteri Malaysia) is the executive branch of the Government of Malaysia. Led by the Prime Minister, the cabinet is a council of ministers who are accountable collectively to the Parliament. According to the Article 43 of the Federal Constitution, members of the Cabinet can only be selected from members of either houses of Parliament. Formally, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints all Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister. The constitution is amended by repealing the Clause (8) of Article 43, enabling a person who is a member of State Legislative Assembly to continue to serve even while serving as a minister or deputy minister in the cabinet. Ministers other than the Prime Minister shall hold office during the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, unless the appointment of any Minister shall have been revoked by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the advice of the Prime Minister but any Minister may resign from office. In practice, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is obliged to follow the advice of the Prime Minister on the appointment and dismissal of ministers.

Mahathir bin Mohamad (Jawi: محاضر بن محمد; IPA: [mahaðɪ(r) bɪn mohamad]; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author and doctor who served as the fourth and seventh prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and again from 2018 to 2020. He was the country's longest-serving prime minister, serving for a cumulative total of 24 years. His political career has spanned more than 75 years, from joining protests opposing citizenship policies for non-Malays in the Malayan Union in the 1940s to forming the Gerakan Tanah Air coalition in 2022. During his premiership, Mahathir was granted the title "Father of Modernisation" (Malay: Bapa Pemodenan) for his pivotal role in transforming the country's economy and infrastructure. At 100 years old, he is the second-oldest living former state leader in the world and the first Malaysian prime minister to reach that age.

Born and raised in Alor Setar, Kedah, Mahathir excelled at school and became a physician. He became active in UMNO before entering the parliament of Malaysia in 1964 as the Member of Parliament for Kota Setar Selatan, serving until 1969 amid losing his seat, subsequently falling out with Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and being expelled from UMNO. In 1970, he released the book The Malay Dilemma. When Tunku resigned, Mahathir re-entered UMNO and parliament through Kubang Pasu constituency, and was promoted to Minister of Education from 1974 to 1978 and Minister of Trade and Industry from 1978 to 1981. He became deputy prime minister in 1976 and in other cabinet before being sworn in as prime minister in 1981.

Anwar bin Ibrahim (born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th prime minister of Malaysia since 2022. He has been the president of the People's Justice Party since 2018 and has represented Tambun in the Parliament of Malaysia since 2022. Since assuming office as prime minister, Anwar appointed himself as Minister of Finance. Anwar is also the chairman of Pakatan Harapan coalition since 2020.

Born in the Crown Colony of Penang during the Malayan Union, Anwar graduated from University of Malaya. Prior to entering politics, he served as president of the National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students and of the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement. He later joined UMNO, then the dominant party in the long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. He became the 7th deputy prime minister in 1993 and served as Minister of Finance from 1991, playing a key role in Malaysia's response to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In 1998, Anwar was removed from all government posts by then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and subsequently led the Reformasi movement against the government. He was jailed in April 1999 on charges of corruption and sodomy, until his release in 2004 after his conviction was overturned. He returned to politics as the 12th leader of the opposition from 2008 to 2015, merging opposition parties into the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, which contested the 2008 and 2013 general elections. He disputed the 2013 election results and led subsequent protests.

The Federal Constitution of Malaysia (Malay: Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia), which came into force in 1957 as the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya and was amended in 1963 to form the Constitution of Malaysia, is the supreme law of Malaysia and contains a total of 183 articles. It is a written legal document influenced by two previous documents, the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948 and the Independence Constitution of 1957. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya (Malay: Persekutuan Tanah Melayu) and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (now independent) became part of the Federation. The Constitution establishes the Federation as a constitutional monarchy, having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State with largely ceremonial roles. It provides for the establishment and organisation of three main branches of the government: the bicameral legislative branch called the Parliament, which consists of the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) and the Senate (Dewan Negara); the executive branch led by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers and the judicial branch headed by the Federal Court.

The Dewan Rakyat (English: House of Representatives, lit. 'People's Hall'; Jawi: ديوان رعية‎), is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament which is the federal legislature of Malaysia. The chamber and its powers are established by Article 44 of the Constitution of Malaysia. The Dewan Rakyat sits in the Houses of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, along with the Dewan Negara, the upper house.

The Dewan Rakyat is a directly elected body consisting of 222 members known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected by first-past-the-post voting with one member from each federal constituency. Members hold their seats until the Dewan Rakyat is dissolved, the term of which is constitutionally limited to five years after an election. The number of seats each state or territory is entitled to is fixed by Article 46 of the Constitution.

The Dewan Negara (English: Senate, lit. 'State Council'; Jawi: ديوان نڬارا‎) is the upper house of the Parliament of Malaysia, consisting of 70 senators of whom 26 are elected by the state legislative assemblies, with two senators for each state, while the other 44 are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia), including four who are appointed to represent the federal territories.

The Dewan Negara usually reviews legislation that has been passed by the lower house, the Dewan Rakyat. All bills must usually be passed by both the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara (the Senate), before they are sent to the Agong for royal assent. However, if the Dewan Negara rejects a bill, it can only delay the bill's passage by a maximum of a year before it is sent to the King, a restriction similar to that placed on the House of Lords in the United Kingdom. Like the Dewan Rakyat, the Dewan Negara meets at the Malaysian Houses of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur.