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Transcript of 1- Parliamentary System
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GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
COURSE CODE : MTC 016
TOPIC : PARLIAMENTARYSYSTEM
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DEFINITION
• Also known as Parliamentarygovernment
• One of the two major typesof democratic governingsystems, having an electedbody of representatives
• Is the opposite ofpresidential systems.
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• 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.
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– 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.
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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.
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• 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.
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• The government as awhole is only indirectlyresponsible to the
electorate. – Examples of Parliamentary
forms of government are – Malaysia, Great Britain, India,
Canada, Japan.
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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.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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;
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• Parliamentarianism is alsopraised for producingserious debates, for
allowing the change inpower (of the executive)without an election, andfor allowing elections at
any time.
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• 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.
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• By contrast, no Third Worldpresidential systemsuccessfully transitioned to
democracy withoutexperiencing coups andother constitutionalbreakdowns.
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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.
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• 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.
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• Another majordisadvantages comes fromthe relationship between
the executive andlegislative branches.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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)
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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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
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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.
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• One of the conditions ofParliamentary Democracyis the division of the
administrative power intothree parts, which areLegislative, Judiciary, andAdministrative or Executive.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• His Royal Highness has thepower to safeguard thecustoms and traditions of
the Malay people and theAdministration of theIslamic Religion in eachstate.
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• Seri Paduka Baginda YangDi-Pertuan Agong is theHead of the Islamic
Religion for the states ofPulau Pinang, Sabah,Sarawak and the FederalTerritories.
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• Seri Paduka Baginda YangDi-Pertuan Agong is alsothe Paramount Ruler of the
country and His RoyalHighness is the HighestCommander of the ArmedForces.
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• His Royal Highness carriesout his duties under theConstitution under the
advice of the PrimeMinister and the cabinetministers.
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• 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.
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THE COMPOSITION OF MALAYSIANPARLIAMENT• The Malaysian Parliament
is divided into threecomponents:-
1. Yang Di-Pertuan Agong,the Paramount Ruler
2. Senate3. House of Representatives
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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.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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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.
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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.
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– 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.
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• 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.
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b) The election of themembers of the Senate(Dewan Negara) in the firstcategory is done by the
State Legislative Assembly
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c) Members of the DewanNegara (Senate) who areelected by Yang Di-PertuanAgong are normally those
who have contributed inpublic service, professionalsand community service
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d) Members of the DewanNegara elect a President orYang di-Pertua and aDeputy or Timbalan Yang
di-Pertua amongst them tochair the council
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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.
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FUNCTIONS OF PARLIAMENT
• Parliament is the legislativeauthority for theFederation, and in this
capacity, it makes lawsapplicable to theFederation as a whole.
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• 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.
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• To enable Parliament toundertake theresponsibilities to it fully and
effectively, the Constitutionconfers certain rights andlegal immunitiesdesignated “Parliamentary
Privileges” uponParliament.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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.
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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.
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• The President appointsheads of departments whoare responsible to the
President. The Presidentcannot dissolve or coercethe assembly.
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• The Executive is directlyresponsible to theelectorate. – Examples of Presidential
forms of governmentare:
• United States of America,Pakistan, Philippines, andso on.
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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 .
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Whereas, if the executive &legislative is each anindependent body & able
to control each otherpower, this system is „Presidential System
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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
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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.