1- Parliamentary System

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GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

COURSE CODE : MTC 016

TOPIC : PARLIAMENTARYSYSTEM



DEFINITION

• Also known as Parliamentarygovernment

• One of the two major typesof democratic governingsystems, having an electedbody of representatives

• Is the opposite ofpresidential systems.



• A system in which – the head of government is

not directly elected,

– the head of governmentcan be removed by a voteof parliament, &

– the terms of office are not

fixed -- early elections canbe called.



– a government or Council ofMinisters (cabinet) with thehead of governmentapproved by the majority of

the members of theparliament – a head of state (a monarch

or president), who must, ifonly ceremonially, assent tobills passed by theparliament before theybecome effective.



CHARACTERISTIC

• The Head of State (Monarch orPresident) appoints the Head ofGovernment.

• The Head of Government(Prime Minister /Premier)appoints his ministers.

• The system is based upon theprinciple of fusion of power, i.e.there is the concentration ofpower in parliament. Therefore,parliament is supreme.



• The ministers are usuallymembers of Parliament.

• The Head of Government

may advise the Head ofState to dissolve theParliament.

• The government is a

collective body and isresponsible to theassembly.



• The government as awhole is only indirectlyresponsible to the

electorate. – Examples of Parliamentary

forms of government are – Malaysia, Great Britain, India,

Canada, Japan.



ADVANTAGES

• Some believe that it iseasier to pass legislationwithin a parliamentarysystem.

• This is because theexecutive branch isdependent upon thedirect or indirect support ofthe legislative branch andis often comprised ofmembers of the legislature.



• In a presidential system,the executive is oftenchosen independently

from the legislature.• If the executive and

legislature in such a systemare comprised of membersfrom different politicalparties, then stalemate(deadlock) can occur.



• Parliamentarianism alsohas attractive features fornations that are ethnically

& racially divided.• In a presidential system, all

executive power isconcentrated in thepresident, in aparliamentary system,power is more divided.



• In the 1989 Lebanese TaifAgreement, in order to giveMuslims greater political power,Lebanon moved from a semi-

presidential system with astrong president to somethingthat was more like a classicalparliamentary system.

• Iraq similarly disdained apresidential system out of fearsthat such a system would beequivalent to Shiite domination;



• Parliamentarianism is alsopraised for producingserious debates, for

allowing the change inpower (of the executive)without an election, andfor allowing elections at

any time.



• There is also some scholars, thatclaims that parliamentarianismis less prone to authoritariancollapse.

• These scholars point out thatsince World War II, two-thirds ofThird World countriesestablishing parliamentary

governments successfullytransitioned to democracy.



• By contrast, no Third Worldpresidential systemsuccessfully transitioned to

democracy withoutexperiencing coups andother constitutionalbreakdowns.



DISADVANTAGES

• A main disadvantages of manyparliamentary systems is thatthe head of governmentcannot be directly voted on.

• Often, an electorate will besurprised just by who is elevatedto the premiership, as Indianswere surprised in 2004 when

Manmohan Singh was namedprime minister and not SoniaGandhi.



• In a presidential system,the president is directlychosen by the people, or

by a set of electors directlychosen by the people, butin a parliamentary systemthe prime minister is

elected by the partyleadership.



• Another majordisadvantages comes fromthe relationship between

the executive andlegislative branches.



• Because there is a lack ofobvious separation of power,some believe that aparliamentary system canplace too much power in theexecutive entity, leading to thefeeling that the legislature or

judiciary have little scope to

administer checks or balanceson the executive.



• In the United Kingdom, theprime minister is traditionallythought of as the "first amongequals" of the cabinet.

• It has been alleged in TheEconomist and by former MPGraham Allen that the primeminister's power has grown somuch in recent years that he orshe is now dominant over thegovernment and thatcollegiality is no more.



• Rather than being "first amongequals," the modern Britishprime minister is "like the moonamong the stars," as TheEconomist once put it.

• "Instead of a healthy balancewe have an executive [theprime minister] who stands like

an 800 lb. gorilla alongside awizened legislature and

judiciary." (Allen, 12)



• Parliamentary systems are alsosometimes unstable.

• Critics point to Israel, Italy, theFrench Fourth Republic, and

Weimar Germany as examplesof parliamentary systems whereunstable coalitions, demandingminority parties, no confidencevotes, and threats of noconfidence votes, make orhave made effectivegovernance impossible.



• Although parliamentarianismallows an election to takeplace at any time, the lack of adefinite election calendar canbe abused.

• In some systems, such as theBritish, a ruling party canschedule elections when it feels

that it is likely to do well, and soavoid elections at times ofunpopularity.



• Thus, by wise timing of elections,in a parliamentary system aparty can extend its rule forlonger than is feasible in afunctioning presidential system.

• In other systems, such as theDutch, the ruling party orcoalition has some flexibility in

determining the election date.



COUNTRIES WITH A PARLIAMENTARY

SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT• Australia, Austria, The Bahamas,

Belize, Belgium, Bulgaria,Canada, Croatia, CzechRepublic, Denmark, Estonia,Germany, Greece, Hungary,India, Republic of Ireland, Iraq,Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan,Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, New

Zealand, Norway, Portugal,Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia,South Africa, Spain, Sweden,Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey,United Kingdom



MALAYSIAN EXPERIENCE

• Malaysia practicesParliamentary Democracywith Constitutional

Monarchy and His RoyalHighness is the ParamountRuler.

• The Federal Constitutionwas legislated with thesetting up of conditions forthis system to exist.



• One of the conditions ofParliamentary Democracyis the division of the

administrative power intothree parts, which areLegislative, Judiciary, andAdministrative or Executive.



• Malaysia is also a country thatpractises a system ofDemocracy based on theFederation system.

• In accordance to this, Perlis,Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak,Selangor, Negeri Sembilan,Melaka, Johor, Pahang,Terengganu, Kelantan,

Sarawak and Sabah haveagreed to the concept of theformation of the country ofMalaysia.



• Each state involved hassurrendered part of its power,such as financial, defence,education, foreign affairs and

others, as stated in theMalaysian Constitution, which isadministered by the CentralGovernment.

• There are matters that are

under the power of the stateand each state administers thepower over those matters.



• As a country with aConstitutional Monarchy, itis therefore allocated by

the Constitution theinstitutions of Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, theParamount Ruler, the

hereditary rulers of the ninestates and the Council ofMalay Rulers.



• His Royal Highness has thepower to safeguard thecustoms and traditions of

the Malay people and theAdministration of theIslamic Religion in eachstate.



• Seri Paduka Baginda YangDi-Pertuan Agong is theHead of the Islamic

Religion for the states ofPulau Pinang, Sabah,Sarawak and the FederalTerritories.



• Seri Paduka Baginda YangDi-Pertuan Agong is alsothe Paramount Ruler of the

country and His RoyalHighness is the HighestCommander of the ArmedForces.



• His Royal Highness carriesout his duties under theConstitution under the

advice of the PrimeMinister and the cabinetministers.



• Meanwhile, the hereditaryrulers are Head of State ofhis own state and carry out

their duties under theadvice of their ownMinister or Menteri Besar orChief Minister.



THE COMPOSITION OF MALAYSIANPARLIAMENT• The Malaysian Parliament

is divided into threecomponents:-

1. Yang Di-Pertuan Agong,the Paramount Ruler

2. Senate3. House of Representatives



Yang Di-Pertuan Agong

• The Council of Rulers electsSeri Paduka Baginda YangDi-Pertuan Agong as the

Paramount Ruler of thecountry for a period of fiveyears.



• Yang Di-Pertuan Agong is partof the Parliament, but HisHighness does not chair theSenate (Dewan Negara) and

House of Representatives(Dewan Rakyat).• He does delivers a speech at

both the Dewan Negara andDewan Rakyat when required

and that is during the openingof each Parliamentary sessionat the beginning of the year.



• His Highness carries outthe following duties:-

a) Calls for parliamentary

proceedings – Article 55 of the FederalConstitution stipulates thatonly Duli Yang Maha Mulia SeriPaduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong can call forParliament to be in session.



b) Ends a parliamentarysession (following theadvice of the cabinetministers)

c) Dissolves the Parliament – Therefore, Yang Di-Pertuan

Agong is required by theConstitution to call Parliamentto meet within six monthsbetween the last proceedingin the next term.



The Senate (Dewan Negara)

• The Senate (DewanNegara) consists of 70members in twocategories:- – 26 members from the 13

states, each staterepresented by twomembers. These members

are elected by the StateLegislative Council underarticle 45(1) (a) of theFederal Constitution.



– 44 members who areelected by Yang Di-PertuanAgong, including twomembers from the Federal

Territory of Kuala Lumpur,one member from theFederal Territory of Labuanand one member from the

Federal Territory of Putrajaya.



• The position of a memberof the Dewan Negara isviewed as the following:-

a) A member of the DewanNegara (Senate) holds aposition for three years andthis tenure is not affected bythe dissolvement ofParliament.



b) The election of themembers of the Senate(Dewan Negara) in the firstcategory is done by the

State Legislative Assembly



c) Members of the DewanNegara (Senate) who areelected by Yang Di-PertuanAgong are normally those

who have contributed inpublic service, professionalsand community service



d) Members of the DewanNegara elect a President orYang di-Pertua and aDeputy or Timbalan Yang

di-Pertua amongst them tochair the council



House of Representatives (DewanRakyat)• The House of Representatives

(Dewan Rakyat) consists of 219(currently 222) members who

are elected by the people in ageneral election held every fiveyears.

• Each member represents oneelection area.

• The election of members isconducted once every fiveyears.



FUNCTIONS OF PARLIAMENT

• Parliament is the legislativeauthority for theFederation, and in this

capacity, it makes lawsapplicable to theFederation as a whole.



• Parliament: – passes federal laws, – makes amendments to existing

federal laws,

– examines the government spolicies,

– approves the government sexpenditures,

– approves new taxes; and

– serves as the forum for criticismand the focus of public opinion onnational affairs.



• To enable Parliament toundertake theresponsibilities to it fully and

effectively, the Constitutionconfers certain rights andlegal immunitiesdesignated “Parliamentary

Privileges” uponParliament.



• These privileges areenjoyed by each House asa whole, and by individual

members of Parliament.• It means they enjoyimmunity from civil andcriminal proceedings inrespect of things said ordone by them inParliament.



• Each House: – is empowered to regulate its

own procedure

– has exclusive control over itsown proceedings, thevalidity of which may not bequestioned in any court; and

– can punish for breaches ofthe privilege or “contempt”of that House.



• At the end of the five-yearperiod: – the Parliament is automatically

dissolved, and

– within 60 days from the date of itsdissolvement, a General Electionto elect representatives for theDewan Rakyat has to be held, and

– the Parliament calls for a meeting

at a date not later than 120 daysfrom the date of dissolvement.



PRESIDENTIAL GOVERNMENT

• The Executive is a presidentelected by the people fora fixed term (four to five

years).• The Head of Government isthe Head of State.



• The President appointsheads of departments whoare responsible to the

President. The Presidentcannot dissolve or coercethe assembly.





• The Executive is directlyresponsible to theelectorate. – Examples of Presidential

forms of governmentare:

• United States of America,Pakistan, Philippines, andso on.



Presidential vs Parliamentary Government

Obvious differentiation – is theprinciples which correlatebetween the executive &legislative body .

If the executive & legislativebody member s are among thesame people, this system call„Parliamentary Government .



Whereas, if the executive &legislative is each anindependent body & able

to control each otherpower, this system is „Presidential System



Parliamentary Governmentclearly separate between thepower, role & responsibilities ofthe head of the state & the

head of the government The head of the State possesde jure power which is thelegitimate or valid power

according the law



According to the law The Headof State posses all power &special rights as written in theconstitution & laws.

However, in reality, he is notpermitted to perform thosepower. He is the holder of thepower.

E.g. of nation that practiceParliamentary System areBritain, Japan, Malaysia andIndia.

1- Parliamentary System

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