FEDERALISM IN

MALAYSIA
-DEFINITION
-CONCEPT OF FEDERALISM
-CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
 WHAT IS
FEDERALISM?
 •Originate from Latin
word Foedus
DEFINITION (agreement or treaty or
association) OR other
name is Federe.
•LITERALLY • TECHNICALLY
• -It is a political theory of
•-Treaty / Agreement / governmental system in two or
Contract more state agreed to make an
agreement to form a single
country and to create two levels
of government which is known
as federal government and state
government
• An agreement between two
or more states to form a
single country without a
bonding status of state
members
 • D.J ELAZAR
-Federalism as the mode of political
DEFINITION organization that unites separate
politics within an overarching
political system so as to allow each
to maintain its fundamental
political integrity.
 WILLIAM H. RIKER provides 3 main
characteristics:
a) Two levels of governments that rule the
same land and the same people

b)Existence of at least one area of action in

which the government is autonomous which
means division of powers

c)The existence of guarantee of autonomy for

each government within its own spheres.
• K.C WHEARE provides few criteria:
• a) coordinate independent
government at federal state and
state level
• b) the method of dividing powers
between them so that they would
operate in an independent and
coordinate matter.
 •1. Pre-requisite
•a) Association of two or more
states to form a single country
recognized by the United Nation.
(Art. 1 (1),(2) )
FEATURES/ELEMENT •b) Duality of government-Federal
S OF THE FEDERAL
SYSTEM national government and state
government (Art 32,Art 43,Art
44,Art 121).
•State government (Part V FC, 8 th
Schedule)
•c) Distribution of powers
 • a) Written Constitution
• b) Highest hierarchy of court to settle dispute
between federal and state
Federal Court in Malaysia (Refer to Art 128 & 74
2. FC)
WORKING Government of state of Kelantan v. Government of
Federation of Malay & Tunku Abdul Rahman
AND Mamat bin Daud & Ors. V. Gov. of Malaysia
PRACTICAL c) Bicameral legislature
FEATURES d)Superiority of federal law (Art 75,77 FC)
Refer to 9th Schedule (List I,II,III )
 • Kelantan objected to admission of
Governmen Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore
t of Kelantan
into argued
the that the proposed
federation.
constitutional changes needed the consent
Malaysia of all constituent States and that this had not
v. been obtained. Thomson CJ, in and
judgement, held that amending the
historic
Governmen constitution to admit a new State was solely
within federal jurisdiction and the consent of
t of the the States was nowhere prescribed.
state of
Kelantan,
 • An amendment to the federal penal
had inserted disharmony or ill will. The
code
plaintiff’s had acted as Bilal, Khatib and
Mamat Daud Imam at Friday prayers in disregard of those
officially appointed to perform the tasks. The
v. plaintiff successfully before
Supreme Court that in its the pith
Government argued
substance, Section 298A was a law and about
of Malaysia Islamic criminal offences and therefore
within the jurisdiction of States assemblies
and not a law on public order as claimed by
the federal government.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FEDERAL,UNITARY AND
CONFEDERAL
FEDERAL UNITARY

Dual government. Single government

National & regional For example

for example Indonesia, India,
Malaysia,US, Singapore
Written Constitution May be written (France)or unwritten
(Britain)

Division of powers between No division of powers

national and regional
Supremacy of constitution May be supreme (Japan) or not supreme
(Britain)
Rigid constitution
May be rigid or flexible
Independence of judiciary
May be independent or not

Bicameral legislature
Bicameral or unicameral
legislature
 •A confederation
independent is made up of two or more
states.
• The component states are allowed to remain as
separate international entities reserving for them
the power to handle their own foreign policy.
• The central government is usually weak while the
component units are rather strong.
• The confederal government depends upon the
component states to contribute military resources
CONFEDERA to defend the confederation.
• When it comes to power sharing, the component
L states are vested with exclusive powers while the
residual powers are reserved for the central
government.
• In a confederation, the constitution allows for any of
the component units to secede at any time if it so
desires. This is unlike in the federal system of
government where the right of secession is denied.
• Citizens tend to be loyal to the component states
rather than the central government.
ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGES
S
• Freedom to form policies • Conflict of Authority
• Optimum Utilization of • Open route to corruption
Resources • Uneven distribution of wealth
• Scope for Innovation and • Promote Regionalism
Experimentation
 ORIGINS AND
DEVELOPMENT OF
MALAYSIAN
FEDERALISM