Malaysia is one of those countries that follow a political system of parliamentary federal monarchy. This means that in this country, the Prime minister is the head of the government and there is a system of multi-party governance. Within this system of governance or politics, there is Separation of power that ensures that there is a different leader for different states. Malaysia’s political system works as per the regulations of its Constitution. Let’s take a look at the political hierarchy of Malaysia:
A) The Executive Branch
This branch is led by the Prime Minister and is composed of the Cabinet. This is that branch that formulates the socio economic policies and plans related to development. Since Malaysia is a federal constitutional elective monarchy, it is headed by the Paramount ruler.
1. The Paramount Ruler- Elected for a period of 5 years and is elected from the nine Sultans of the Malay States.
2. The Prime minister-Leads the cabinet
3. The Cabinet-The members of this body are elected from both the houses of the Parliament.
B) The Legislative Branch
The Legislative branch, on the basis of Legislative powers is divided into federal and state legislatures. Let’s look at the hierarchical system within this branch of the political system of Malaysia
1. The House of Representatives-This is the lower house of the Legislative branch and is also known as Dewan Rakyat. There are 219 seats in this leg of the Legislative branch and all the members of it are elected through the method of voting. They have a serving time period of 5 years.
2. The Senate-This is the upper house of the Legislative branch and is also known as Dewan Negara. There are a total of 70 seats within this leg of the Legislative branch and 44 of them are elected by the Paramount ruler while 26 are elected by the State Legislatures.
C) The Judicial Branch
This is the third branch of the governance system of Malaysia and this is that branch which has the right to interpret the laws. The hierarchy of this branch is given as follows:
1. The Federal court-This is the highest court in the judicial system of Malaysia.
2. The Court of Appeal-This is the court which follows the Federal Court as far as hierarchy is concerned.
3. Two High courts-Peninsular Malaysia high court and East Malaysia courts.
4. Sessions courts
5. Magistrate Courts
6. Courts for children
7. Special Court-This is that court which deals with all those cases that are against the Royalty or are brought by the Royalty.
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