A monarchy is a form of a government headed by a monarch or a supreme ruler who usually

inherits the position via their family’s royal lineage. As of today, most monarchies are in the form
of constitutional monarchies where the monarch exercises their powers according to a written or
unwritten parliamentary constitution. In a constitutional monarchy, an elected leader heads the
governance of the country alongside the monarch.

Malaysia practices the constitutional monarchy system based on the Westminster

parliamentary system with the features of a federation. Traditional Malay kings known as either
Sultan, Raja or Yang Di Pertuan Besar, head nine states of Malaysia which are namely Kedah,
Johor, Perlis, Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu, Perak and Negeri Sembilan. The eligibility for
ascending the thrones of these nine states are limited to Malay Muslims of royal descend only.

In Perak, the throne rotates among three branches of the royal family. The eldest son of the
reigning Sultan is placed at the end of the line of succession. However, the order of succession is
subject to alteration by the Sultan and his royal counsel. Negeri Sembilan however is an elective
monarchy, where chiefs of the royal clan elect the Yang Di Pertuan Besar among male royal family
members while an elected Chief Minister known as the Menteri Besar will head the government
of the state. Alike Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia as a whole is also an elective monarchy where the
overall Sultan of Malaysia titled the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected every five years among the
rulers of the nine states via a rotation system.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong plays his role as the head of Malaysia’s official religion, Islam.
Apart from that, all of the rulers of each state would occasionally convene in a conference known
as the Conference of Rulers. This conference is where the rulers would meet and discuss various
issues related to state and national policies. The most important role of this conference is to elect
the Yang Di Pertuan Agong every five years or when a vacancy occurs. Another role of this
conference is to give consent to certain amendments in the federal constitution pertaining to the
status of the rulers, special privileges to Bumiputras, the state of Malay language as the National
language and the status of Islam as the religion of the federation. The monarchy in Malaysia also
possess reserved powers which include the power to grant pardons, bestow honors, appoint and
dismiss a prime minister, refusal to dissolve parliament and refusal, or to delay a royal ascend to
the throne. Other roles of the monarchy is as the head the armed forces of Malaysia as well as the
head of the state.

Despite the many roles of the monarch, the monarchy however is expected to remain
politically neutral, while overseeing efforts in maintaining stability and continuity as a national
focus despite any change of government. Eventhough the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the head of
the state, the governance of the country however is lead by a Prime Minister, who is elected by the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong among members of the parliament. This means that the excutive power
resides with the Prime Minister. In other words, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong reigns as the Sultan
of Malaysia, but does not govern the country.
 Another challenge faced by the constitutional monarch system is in terms of the powers
of the monarch being limited by the constitution. At any circumstance, the rulers are obligated to
act upon the advice of government members. This creates a limitation for the monarchs in
expressing their views or decisions on certain matters related to the nation as a whole. Although
this may seem like a challenge for the monarchs at most times, this also creates a good relationship
between the monarch and the government as both parties complement each other whilst working
towards upholding the law and maintaining good governance of the nation.

As in the constitutional monarch system the rulers would exercise their powers based on
the constitution, thereby this creates a gap between the rulers and most of the younger generation
of today. Today’s generation or Generation X as we know it, hardly recalls or realizes any of the
struggles once faced by our rulers and leaders in achieving independence. Therefore, they would
not be as connected to the monarchy as the older generations. To overcome this challenge, rulers
may be required to get more engaged with Generation X via social media and tech-savvy methods
in which most of Generation X spends their time at.

Despite the intricate roles and concept as well as the challenges faced by Malaysia’s
constitutional monarchy system, it is safe to conclude that this system has graciously evolved over
the years in Malaysia whilst equally maintaining a balance between both the monarchy as well as
the constitution. Most importantly, the monarchy has been able forge a unity among the people
within the spirit of the constitution despite having citizens of various ethnicity.