21 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: Paramount Ruler Sultan MIZAN Zainal Abidin (since 13 December 2006) head of government: Prime Minister ABDULLAH bin Ahmad Badawi (since 31 October 2003); Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed NAJIB bin Abdul Razak (since 7 January 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister from among the members of Parliament with consent of the paramount ruler elections: paramount ruler elected by and from the hereditary rulers of nine of the states for five-year terms; election last held on 3 November 2006 (next to be held in 2011); prime minister designated from among the members of the House of Representatives; following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins a plurality of seats in the House of Representatives becomes prime minister election results: Sultan MIZAN Zainal Abidin elected paramount ruler note: position of paramount ruler is primarily ceremonial; in practice, selection is based on principle of rotation among rulers of states
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament or Parlimen consists of Senate or Dewan Negara (70 seats; 44 appointed by paramount ruler, 26 elected by 13 state legislatures; to serve three-year terms with limit of two terms) and House of Representatives or Dewan Rakyat (222 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: House of Representatives - last held on 8 March 2008 (next to be held by March 2013) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote - BN coalition 50.3%, opposition parties 46.8%, others 2.9%; seats - BN coalition 140, opposition parties 82
Judicial branch:
Civil Courts include Federal Court, Court of Appeal, High Court of Malaya on peninsula Malaysia, and High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in states of Borneo (judges appointed by the paramount ruler on the advice of the prime minister); Sharia Courts include Sharia Appeal Court, Sharia High Court, and Sharia Subordinate Courts at state-level and deal with religious and family matters such as custody, divorce, and inheritance, only for Muslims; decisions of Sharia courts cannot be appealed to civil courts
Political parties and leaders:
National Front (Barisan Nasional) or BN (ruling coalition) consists
of the following parties: Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia Party or PGRM [KOH
Tsu Koon - acting]; Liberal Democratic Party (Parti Liberal
Demokratik - Sabah) or LDP [LIEW Vui Keong]; Malaysian Chinese
Association (Persatuan China Malaysia) or MCA [ONG Ka Ting];
Malaysian Indian Congress (Kongres India Malaysia) or MIC [S. Samy
VELLU]; Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah or PBRS [Joseph KURUP]; Parti
Bersatu Sabah or PBS [Joseph PAIRIN Kitingan]; Parti Pesaka
Bumiputera Bersatu or PBB [Abdul TAIB Mahmud]; Parti Rakyat Sarawak
or PRS [James MASING]; Sabah Progressive Party (Parti Progresif
Sabah) or SAPP [YONG Teck Lee]; Sarawak United People's Party (Parti
Bersatu Rakyat Sarawak) or SUPP [George CHAN Hong Nam]; United
Malays National Organization or UMNO [ABDULLAH bin Ahmad Badawi];
United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organization (Pertubuhan
Pasko Momogun Kadazan Dusun Bersatu) or UPKO [Bernard DOMPOK];
People's Progressive Party (Parti Progresif Penduduk Malaysia) or
PPP [M.Kayveas]; Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party or SPDP
[William MAWAN])
People's Alliance (Pakatan Rakyat) or PR (opposition coalition)
consists of the following parties:: Democratic Action Party (Parti
Tindakan Demokratik) or DAP [KARPAL Singh]; Islamic Party of
Malaysia (Parti Islam se Malaysia) or PAS [Abdul HADI Awang];
People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) or PKR [WAN AZIZAH
Wan Ismael]; Sarawak National Party or SNAP [Edwin DUNDANG]
Political pressure groups and leaders: