History Behind The Malaysian Monarchy.

History behind the Malaysian monarchy

MALAYSIA practises a government system based on constitutional malaysian monarchy and parliamentary democracy at two levels: federal and state.

At the federal level, the head of state is the King and the head of government is the Prime Minister.

At the state level, the head (ruler) of state is either the Sultan, Raja or Yang di-Pertuan Besar, and the Yang di-Pertua Negeri is the head of state where there are no rulers. Chief Ministers (Mentri Besar/Ketua Mentri) are the heads of government.

Malaysia does not have an absolute monarchy, although it has a King as the head of state.

The office of the King is not hereditary and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can come from any of the nine rulers from the Malay States.

Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the country’s first Yang di-Pertuan Agong, suggested the rotation system, borrowing the idea from Negri Sembilan, where the chiefs from all nine regions historically took turns to be the Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

The power to elect and appoint the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is vested with the Conference of Rulers in accordance with the Federal Constitution and the rules of the Conference of Rulers.

King for Malaysian Monarchy

The next King is determined by the Conference of Rulers through a rotation system originally based on seniority, and varied by the Conference, whose decision is made via a secret ballot among its members.

Each King holds office for five years before the next ballot is conducted.

Only Rulers are eligible to vote.

The Constitution provides that a ruler is not eligible for election as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong if the ruler is a minor, the ruler has notified the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal that he does not wish to be elected or the Conference of Rulers by a secret ballot resolves that the ruler is unsuitable, by reason of infirmity of mind, body or for any other cause, to exercise the functions of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The resolution shall only be carried out if at least five members of the Conference have voted in favour of it.

The Conference of Rulers was formally instituted in 1948 to replace the Council of Rulers of the Federated Malay States, which was first convened in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, in 1897.

The Council, chaired by the British High Commissioner, only comprised the Malay rulers from Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang then.

With the establishment of the Conference of Rulers, all nine Malay rulers met for the first time on Aug 31, 1948.