Dewan Rakyat

The Dewan Rakyat (English: 'House of Representatives'; lit.  'People's

Assembly') is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, the federal
House of Representatives
legislature of Malaysia. The chamber and its powers are established by Dewan Rakyat
Article 44 of the Constitution of Malaysia. The Dewan Rakyat sits in the 15th Parliament
Houses of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, along with the Dewan Negara,
the upper house.

The Dewan Rakyat is a directly elected body consisting of 222 members

known as Members of Parliament (MPs). Members are elected by first-
past-the-post voting with one member from each federal constituency.
Members hold their seats until the Dewan Rakyat is dissolved, the term
of which is constitutionally limited to five years after an election. The
number of seats each state or territory is entitled to is fixed by Article 46
of the Constitution. Type
Type Lower house
While the concurrence of both chambers of Parliament is normally
necessary for legislation to be enacted, the Dewan Rakyat holds Leadership
significantly more power in practice; the Dewan Negara very rarely Speaker ""Vacant"",
rejects bills that have been passed by the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Independent[1]
Rakyat can bypass the Dewan Negara if it refuses to pass a specific law since 13 July 2020
twice, with at least one year in between. The Cabinet is solely Deputy Speaker I Vacant
responsible to the Dewan Rakyat, and the prime minister only has to since 11 October 2022
maintain the support of the lower house.
Deputy Speaker II Vacant
since 11 October 2022
Secretary Nizam Mydin
Contents since 13 May 2020
Membership Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, PH-PKR
Powers and procedure since 24 November 2022

Current composition Leader of the Muhyiddin Yassin, PN-

Last composition before dissolution Opposition BERSATU
since TBA
Incoming composition after 2022 Malaysian General
Election Structure

Latest election result Seats 222

Members per state and federal territory
Notes and references

Membership
Members are referred to as "Members of Parliament" ("MPs") or "Ahli Political groups (As of 24 November
Dewan Rakyat" (lit.  'member of the Dewan Rakyat') in Malay. The term 2022)
of office is as long as the member wins in the elections.
Government (148)
A member of the Dewan Rakyat must be at least 21 years of age and
must not concurrently be a member of the Dewan Negara. The presiding    PH (82)
officer of the Dewan Rakyat is the Speaker, who is elected at the
beginning of each Parliament or after the vacation of the post, by the   DAP (40)
MPs. Two Deputy Speakers are also elected, and one of them sits in   PKR (31)
place of the Speaker when he is absent. The Dewan Rakyat machinery is
  AMANAH (8)
supervised by the Clerk of the House who is appointed by the King; he   UPKO (2)
may only be removed from office through the manner prescribed for
   MUDA (1)
judges or by mandatory retirement at age 60.[2]
   BN (30)
As of the 2018 general election, the Dewan Rakyat has 222 elected
  UMNO (26)
members. Members are elected from federal constituencies drawn by the
Election Commission. Constituency boundaries are redrawn every ten   MCA (2)
years based on the latest census.   MIC (1)

Each Dewan Rakyat lasts for a maximum of five years, after which a   PBRS (1)
general election must be called. In the general election, voters select a    GPS (23)
candidate to represent their constituency in the Dewan Rakyat. The first-
past-the-post voting system is used; the candidate who gains the most   PBB (14)
votes wins the seat.   PRS (5)
  PDP (2)
Before a general election can be called, the King must first dissolve
Parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister.[2] According to the   SUPP (2)
Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has the right at his own    GRS (6)
discretion to either grant or withhold consent to dissolve the parliament.
  BERSATU Sabah
(4)
Powers and procedure
  PBS (1)
Parliament is the legislative branch of the federal government and is   STAR (1)
responsible for passing, amending and repealing primary legislation.    WARISAN (3)
These are known as Acts of Parliament.    KDM (2)
   PBM (1)
Members of Parliament possess parliamentary privilege and are permitted
to speak on any subject without fear of censure outside Parliament; the    Independent (1)
only body that can censure an MP is the House Committee of Privileges.
Immunity is effective from the moment a member of Parliament is sworn Opposition (73)
in, and only applies when that member has the floor; it does not apply to
   PN (73)
statements made outside the House. An exception is made by the
Sedition Act passed by Parliament in the wake of the 13 May racial riots   PAS (49)
in 1969. Under the Act, all public discussion of repealing certain Articles
  BERSATU (24)
of the Constitution dealing with Bumiputra privileges such as Article 153
is illegal. This prohibition is extended to all members of both houses of
Vacant (1)
Parliament.[3] Members of Parliament are also forbidden from criticising
the King and judges.[4]
Padang Serai

The executive government, comprising the Prime Minister and his Committees 5
Cabinet, is usually drawn from members of Parliament; most of its Committee of Selection
members are typically members of the Dewan Rakyat. After a general
election or the resignation or death of a Prime Minister, the King selects Public Accounts
the Prime Minister, who is the head of government but constitutionally Committee
subordinate to him, from the Dewan Rakyat. In practice, this is usually House Committee
the leader of the largest party in Parliament. The Prime Minister then Committee of Privileges
submits a list containing the names of members of his Cabinet, who will
then be appointed as Ministers by the King. Members of the Cabinet Standing Orders
must also be members of Parliament. If the Prime Minister loses the Committee
confidence of the Dewan Rakyat, whether by losing a no-confidence Length of term Up to 5 years
vote or failing to pass a budget, he must either advise the King to dissolve
Parliament and hold a general election or submit his resignation to the Elections
King. The King has the discretion to grant or withhold consent to the Voting system First-past-the-post
dissolution. If consent is withheld, the government must resign and the Last election 19 November 2022
King would appoint a new Prime Minister that has the support of the
majority of members of Parliament. The Cabinet formulates government Next election 2027
policy and drafts bills, meeting in private. Its members must accept Meeting place
"collective responsibility" for the decisions the Cabinet makes, even if
some members disagree with it; if they do not wish to be held responsible
for Cabinet decisions, they must resign. Although the Constitution makes
no provision for it, there is also a Deputy Prime Minister, who is the de
facto successor of the Prime Minister should he die or be otherwise
incapacitated.[5]

A proposed act of law begins its life when a particular government

minister or ministry prepares a first draft with the assistance of the
Attorney-General's Department. The draft, known as a bill, is then
discussed by the Cabinet. If it is agreed to submit it to Parliament, the bill
is distributed to all MPs. It then goes through three readings before the
Dewan Rakyat. The first reading is where the minister or his deputy
submits it to Parliament. At the second reading, the bill is discussed and
debated by MPs. At the third reading, the minister or his deputy formally Dewan Rakyat chamber
submit it to a vote for approval. A simple majority is usually required to Malaysian Houses of Parliament,
pass the bill, but in certain cases, such as amendments to the constitution, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
a two-thirds majority is required. Should the bill pass, it is sent to the
Website
Dewan Negara, where the three readings are carried out again. The
Dewan Negara may choose not to pass the bill, but this only delays its Official website (http://www.parlimen.gov.my)
passage by a month, or in some cases, a year; once this period expires,
the bill is considered to have been passed by the house.[6]

If the bill passes, it is presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong who has 30 days to consider the bill. Should he disagree with
it, he returns it to Parliament with a list of suggested amendments. Parliament must then reconsider the bill and its proposed
amendments and return it to the King within 30 days if they pass it again. The King then has another 30 days to give the
royal assent; otherwise, it passes into law. The law does not take effect until it is published in the Government Gazette.[7]

The government attempts to maintain top secrecy regarding bills debated; MPs generally receive copies of bills only a few
days before they are debated, and newspapers are rarely provided with copies of the bills before they are debated. In some
cases, such as a 1968 amendment to the Constitution, an MP may be presented with a bill to be debated on the same day it is
tabled, and all three readings may be carried out that day itself.[8] In rare circumstances, the government may release a White
paper containing particular proposals that will eventually be incorporated into a bill; this has been done for legislation such as
the Universities and University Colleges Act.[9]

Although the process above assumes only the government can propose bills, there also exists a process for private member's
bills. However, unlike most other legislatures following the Westminster system, few members of Parliament actually
introduce bills.[10] To present a private member's bill, the member in question must seek the leave of the House in question to
debate the bill before it is moved. Originally, it was allowed to debate the bill in the process of seeking leave, but this process
was discontinued by an amendment to the Standing Orders of the Dewan Rakyat.[11] It is also possible for members of the
Dewan Negara to initiate bills; however, only cabinet ministers are permitted to move finance-related bills, which must be
tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.[12]

It is often alleged that legislation proposed by the opposition parties, which must naturally be in the form of a private
member's bill, is not seriously considered by Parliament. Some have gone as far as to claim that the rights of members of
Parliament to debate proposed bills have been severely curtailed by incidents such as an amendment of the Standing Orders
that permitted the Speaker to amend written copies of MPs' speeches before they were made. Nevertheless, it is admitted by
some of these critics that "government officials often face sharp questioning in Parliament, although this is not always
reported in detail in the press."[13]

Current composition
Final composition before dissolution on 10 October 2022

Last composition before dissolution

Seats
Affiliation Leader in Parliament Status
2018 election Current
Barisan Nasional Ismail Sabri Yaakob 79 41
Perikatan Nasional Muhyiddin Yassin — 46
Gabungan Parti Sarawak Fadillah Yusof — 19
Majority coalition government
Parti Bangsa Malaysia Zuraida Kamaruddin — 6
United Sabah Party Maximus Ongkili — 1
Independents 3 3
Pakatan Harapan Anwar Ibrahim 113 90
Heritage Party Shafie Apdal 8 7
Gerakan Tanah Air Mahathir Mohamad Opposition New 4
Parti Sarawak Bersatu Baru Bian 0 1
Malaysian United Democratic Alliance Syed Saddiq New 1
Total 222 219

Incoming composition after 2022 Malaysian General Election

 Seats
Affiliation Leader in Parliament Status
2022 election Current
Pakatan Harapan Anwar Ibrahim 82 82
Barisan Nasional Ismail Sabri Yaakob 30 30
Gabungan Parti Sarawak Fadillah Yusof 23 23
Gabungan Rakyat Sabah Jeffrey Kitingan 6 6
Majority coalition government
Heritage Party Shafie Apdal 3 3
KDM Wetrom Bahanda 2 2
Parti Bangsa Malaysia Larry Sng 1 1
Independents 1 1
Perikatan Nasional Muhyiddin Yassin Opposition 73 73
Total 222 221

Latest election result

Members per state and federal territory

 Population
State /

Number of seats (2020 Population per seat

federal territory
census)
F. T. Kuala Lumpur 11 1,982,112 180,192

F. T. Labuan 1 95,120 95,120

F. T. Putrajaya 1 109,202 109,202

 Johor 26 4,009,670 154,218

 Kedah 15 2,131,427 142,095

 Kelantan 14 1,792,501 128,036

 Malacca 6 998,428 166,405

 Negeri Sembilan 8 1,199,974 149,997

 Pahang 14 1,591,295 113,664

 Penang 13 1,740,405 133,877

 Perak 24 2,496,041 104,002

 Perlis 3 284,885 94,962

 Sabah 25 3,418,785 136,751

 Sarawak 31 2,453,677 79,151

 Selangor 22 6,994,423 317,928

 Terengganu 8 1,149,440 143,680

Notes and references

1. "Parlimen: Azhar Harun Speaker baharu [METROTV]" (https://www.hmetro.com.my/utama/2020/07/599373/
parlimen-azhar-harun-speaker-baharu). 13 July 2020.
2. "Government: Parliament: Dewan Rakyat" (http://www.windowstomalaysia.com.my/gov/27_2.htm). Retrieved
8 February 2006. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20040614155402/http://www.windowstomalaysia.co
m.my/gov/27_2.htm) 14 June 2004 at the Wayback Machine
3. Means, Gordon P. (1991). Malaysian Politics: The Second Generation, pp. 14, 15. Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0-19-588988-6.
4. Myytenaere, Robert (1998). "The Immunities of Members of Parliament" (http://www.asgp.info/reports/1998_
175_immunities.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20060725152946/http://www.asgp.info/reports/19
98_175_immunities.pdf) 25 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 12 February 2006.
5. "Branches of Government in Malaysia" (http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/our_malaysia/government/branches.
cfm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20060207132734/http://virtualmalaysia.com/our_malaysia/gover
nment/branches.cfm) 7 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 February 2006.
6. Shuid, Mahdi & Yunus, Mohd. Fauzi (2001). Malaysian Studies, pp. 33, 34. Longman. ISBN 983-74-2024-3.
7. Shuid & Yunus, p. 34.
8. Tan, Chee Koon & Vasil, Raj (ed., 1984). Without Fear or Favour, p. 7. Eastern Universities Press.
ISBN 967-908-051-X.
9. Tan & Vasil, p. 11.
10. Ram, B. Suresh (16 December 2005). "Pro-people, passionate politician" (http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cf
m?id=12334) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20060427174339/http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?i
d=12334) 27 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine. The Sun.
11. Lim, Kit Siang (1997). "Consensus Against Corruption" (http://ikdasar.tripod.com/events/rasuah/dap.htm).
Retrieved 11 February 2006.
12. Henderson, John William, Vreeland, Nena, Dana, Glenn B., Hurwitz, Geoffrey B., Just, Peter, Moeller, Philip
W. & Shinn, R.S. (1977). Area Handbook for Malaysia, p. 219. American University, Washington D.C.,
Foreign Area Studies. LCCN 771294.
13. "Malaysia" (https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41649.htm). Retrieved 22 January 2006.

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