GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

COURSE CODE TOPIC

: MTC 016 : PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

DEFINITION
Also known as Parliamentary government One of the two major types of democratic governing systems, having an elected body of representatives Is the opposite of presidential systems.

 A system in which
the head of government is not directly elected, the head of government can be removed by a vote of parliament, & the terms of office are not fixed -- early elections can be called.

 a government or Council of Ministers (cabinet) with the head of government approved by the majority of the members of the parliament a head of state (a monarch or president), who must, if only ceremonially, assent to bills passed by the parliament before they become effective.

CHARACTERISTIC
The Head of State (Monarch or President) appoints the Head of Government. The Head of Government (Prime Minister /Premier) appoints his ministers. The system is based upon the principle of fusion of power, i.e. there is the concentration of power in parliament. Therefore, parliament is supreme.

 The ministers are usually members of Parliament. The Head of Government may advise the Head of State to dissolve the Parliament. The government is a collective body and is responsible to the assembly.

 The government as a whole is only indirectly responsible to the electorate.

Examples of Parliamentary forms of government are Malaysia, Great Britain, India, Canada, Japan.

ADVANTAGES
Some believe that it is easier to pass legislation within a parliamentary system. This is because the executive branch is dependent upon the direct or indirect support of the legislative branch and is often comprised of members of the legislature.

 In a presidential system, the executive is often chosen independently from the legislature. If the executive and legislature in such a system are comprised of members from different political parties, then stalemate (deadlock) can occur.

 Parliamentarianism also has attractive features for nations that are ethnically & racially divided. In a presidential system, all executive power is concentrated in the president, in a parliamentary system, power is more divided.

 In the 1989 Lebanese Taif Agreement, in order to give Muslims greater political power, Lebanon moved from a semipresidential system with a strong president to something that was more like a classical parliamentary system. Iraq similarly disdained a presidential system out of fears that such a system would be equivalent to Shiite domination;

 Parliamentarianism is also praised for producing serious debates, for allowing the change in power (of the executive) without an election, and for allowing elections at any time.

 There is also some scholars, that claims that parliamentarianism is less prone to authoritarian collapse. These scholars point out that since World War II, two-thirds of Third World countries establishing parliamentary governments successfully transitioned to democracy.

 By contrast, no Third World presidential system successfully transitioned to democracy without experiencing coups and other constitutional breakdowns.

DISADVANTAGES
A main disadvantages of many parliamentary systems is that the head of government cannot be directly voted on. Often, an electorate will be surprised just by who is elevated to the premiership, as Indians were surprised in 2004 when Manmohan Singh was named prime minister and not Sonia Gandhi.

 In a presidential system, the president is directly chosen by the people, or by a set of electors directly chosen by the people, but in a parliamentary system the prime minister is elected by the party leadership.

 Another major disadvantages comes from the relationship between the executive and legislative branches.

 Because there is a lack of obvious separation of power, some believe that a parliamentary system can place too much power in the executive entity, leading to the feeling that the legislature or judiciary have little scope to administer checks or balances on the executive.

 In the United Kingdom, the prime minister is traditionally thought of as the "first among equals" of the cabinet. It has been alleged in The Economist and by former MP Graham Allen that the prime minister's power has grown so much in recent years that he or she is now dominant over the government and that collegiality is no more.

 Rather than being "first among equals," the modern British prime minister is "like the moon among the stars," as The Economist once put it. "Instead of a healthy balance we have an executive [the prime minister] who stands like an 800 lb. gorilla alongside a wizened legislature and judiciary." (Allen, 12)

 Parliamentary systems are also sometimes unstable. Critics point to Israel, Italy, the French Fourth Republic, and Weimar Germany as examples of parliamentary systems where unstable coalitions, demanding minority parties, no confidence votes, and threats of no confidence votes, make or have made effective governance impossible.

 Although parliamentarianism allows an election to take place at any time, the lack of a definite election calendar can be abused. In some systems, such as the British, a ruling party can schedule elections when it feels that it is likely to do well, and so avoid elections at times of unpopularity.

 Thus, by wise timing of elections, in a parliamentary system a party can extend its rule for longer than is feasible in a functioning presidential system. In other systems, such as the Dutch, the ruling party or coalition has some flexibility in determining the election date.

COUNTRIES WITH A PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

Australia, Austria, The Bahamas, Belize, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, 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 practices Parliamentary Democracy with Constitutional Monarchy and His Royal Highness is the Paramount Ruler. The Federal Constitution was legislated with the setting up of conditions for this system to exist.

 One of the conditions of Parliamentary Democracy is the division of the administrative power into three parts, which are Legislative, Judiciary, and Administrative or Executive.

 Malaysia is also a country that practises a system of Democracy based on the Federation system. In accordance to this, Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sarawak and Sabah have agreed to the concept of the formation of the country of Malaysia.

 Each state involved has surrendered part of its power, such as financial, defence, education, foreign affairs and others, as stated in the Malaysian Constitution, which is administered by the Central Government. There are matters that are under the power of the state and each state administers the power over those matters.

 As a country with a Constitutional Monarchy, it is therefore allocated by the Constitution the institutions of Yang DiPertuan Agong, the Paramount Ruler, the hereditary rulers of the nine states and the Council of Malay Rulers.

 His Royal Highness has the power to safeguard the customs and traditions of the Malay people and the Administration of the Islamic Religion in each state.

 Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong is the Head of the Islamic Religion for the states of Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territories.

 Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong is also the Paramount Ruler of the country and His Royal Highness is the Highest Commander of the Armed Forces.

 His Royal Highness carries out his duties under the Constitution under the advice of the Prime Minister and the cabinet ministers.

 Meanwhile, the hereditary rulers are Head of State of his own state and carry out their duties under the advice of their own Minister or Menteri Besar or Chief Minister.

THE COMPOSITION OF MALAYSIAN PARLIAMENT

The Malaysian Parliament is divided into three components:1. Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, the Paramount Ruler 2. Senate 3. House of Representatives

Yang Di-Pertuan Agong

The Council of Rulers elects Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong as the Paramount Ruler of the country for a period of five years.

 Yang Di-Pertuan Agong is part of the Parliament, but His Highness does not chair the Senate (Dewan Negara) and House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat). He does delivers a speech at both the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat when required and that is during the opening of each Parliamentary session at the beginning of the year.

 His Highness carries out the following duties:a) Calls for parliamentary proceedings
Article 55 of the Federal Constitution stipulates that only Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agong can call for Parliament to be in session.

b) Ends a parliamentary session (following the advice of the cabinet ministers) c) Dissolves the Parliament
Therefore, Yang Di-Pertuan Agong is required by the Constitution to call Parliament to meet within six months between the last proceeding in the next term.

The Senate (Dewan Negara)

The Senate (Dewan Negara) consists of 70 members in two categories: 26 members from the 13 states, each state represented by two members. These members are elected by the State Legislative Council under article 45(1) (a) of the Federal Constitution.

 44 members who are elected by Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, including two members from the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, one member from the Federal Territory of Labuan and one member from the Federal Territory of Putrajaya.

 The position of a member of the Dewan Negara is viewed as the following:a) A member of the Dewan Negara (Senate) holds a position for three years and this tenure is not affected by the dissolvement of Parliament.

b) The election of the members of the Senate (Dewan Negara) in the first category is done by the State Legislative Assembly

c) Members of the Dewan Negara (Senate) who are elected by Yang Di-Pertuan Agong are normally those who have contributed in public service, professionals and community service

d) Members of the Dewan Negara elect a President or Yang di-Pertua and a Deputy or Timbalan Yang di-Pertua amongst them to chair the council

House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat)

The House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) consists of 219 (currently 222) members who are elected by the people in a general election held every five years. Each member represents one election area. The election of members is conducted once every five years.

FUNCTIONS OF PARLIAMENT
Parliament is the legislative authority for the Federation, and in this capacity, it makes laws applicable to the Federation as a whole.

 Parliament:
passes federal laws, makes amendments to existing federal laws, examines the governments policies, approves the governments expenditures, approves new taxes; and serves as the forum for criticism and the focus of public opinion on national affairs.

 To enable Parliament to undertake the responsibilities to it fully and effectively, the Constitution confers certain rights and legal immunities designated Parliamentary Privileges upon Parliament.

 These privileges are enjoyed by each House as a whole, and by individual members of Parliament. It means they enjoy immunity from civil and criminal proceedings in respect of things said or done by them in Parliament.

 Each House:
is empowered to regulate its own procedure has exclusive control over its own proceedings, the validity of which may not be questioned in any court; and can punish for breaches of the privilege or contempt of that House.

 At the end of the five-year period:

the Parliament is automatically dissolved, and within 60 days from the date of its dissolvement, a General Election to elect representatives for the Dewan Rakyat has to be held, and the Parliament calls for a meeting at a date not later than 120 days from the date of dissolvement.

PRESIDENTIAL GOVERNMENT
The Executive is a president elected by the people for a fixed term (four to five years). The Head of Government is the Head of State.

 The President appoints heads of departments who are responsible to the President. The President cannot dissolve or coerce the assembly.

 The assembly is ultimately supreme over the other branches of government. The system is based on the principles of separation of power, i.e. consists of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branch.

 The Executive is directly responsible to the electorate.

Examples of Presidential forms of government are:
United States of America, Pakistan, Philippines, and so on.

Presidential vs Parliamentary Government

Obvious differentiation is the principles which correlate between the executive & legislative body . If the executive & legislative body members are among the same people, this system call Parliamentary Government.

 Whereas, if the executive & legislative is each an independent body & able to control each other power, this system is Presidential System

 Parliamentary Government clearly separate between the power, role & responsibilities of the head of the state & the head of the government

The head of the State posses de jure power which is the legitimate or valid power according the law

 According to the law The Head of State posses all power & special rights as written in the constitution & laws. However, in reality, he is not permitted to perform those power. He is the holder of the power. E.g. of nation that practice Parliamentary System are Britain, Japan, Malaysia and India.