Discuss Westminster Parliament in Malaysia.
What is Westminster system? The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government created after the politics of the United Kingdom. In this system, there is a head of state, which is also known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in Malaysia who holds the executive power legally. There is also a head of government, known as the prime minister which is appointed by Yang di-Pertuan Agong in this system. A prime minister is the eldest minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. He leads the whole executive branch. Besides that, there is an upper house and a lower house which has different powers respectively. In Malaysia, the upper house of the parliament of Malaysia is known as Dewan Negara. It consists of 70 senators which is appointed by Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the advice of the Prime Minister. They are responsible to initiate and amend the legislation, as long as it does not concern with the financial and fiscal matters. Any proposed legislation must first be approved by the Dewan Negara. The approved proposal will be sent to the King. If the King does not agree about what is written in the proposal, the proposal is sent back to Parliament with a list of suggested comments. But if the King approves the proposal, it will become a law when it is published in the Government Gazette.Lower house is known as Dewan Rakyat in Malaysia.On the other hand, the lower house commands more power compared to upper house. They are allowed to override the upper house in some ways. For example, they hold the control over budget and monetary laws. And, if the Prime Minister loses the confidence of the Dewan Rakyat, or when he does not seem to fit to hold that position anymore, or he fails to pass a budget, he must submit his resignation to the King. The lower house has the power to vote to dismiss the Prime Minister. The system of government in Malaysia is based on the Westminster system.