The Role of the Executive, Legislative, Judiciary, and Constitutional Monarchy in Governing Malaysia: Perdana Discourse Series 9

The Federal Constitution of Malaysia divides the authority of the Federation into the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. These three arms of government provide the basis on which democracy is practised, which is through the separation of powers, with checks and balances. In practice, however, the lines between the branches of government may not be as clear-cut.

At the ninth Perdana Discourse Series, the fourth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, explained the history of Malaysia's Westminster-model of governance, its unique elements, and the overlaps between the different power jurisdictions. Mixing history, real-life examples, and hard opinions, Tun Dr Mahathir's keynote address shines a light on some of the grey areas of the subject, and provides insights that can only come from decades of leadership experience.

This publication presents the edited transcript of the keynote address as well as question and answer session, and is a must-have addition for bookshelves on Malaysian politics and political history.