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==Political conditions== Malaysia's predominant political party, [[United Malays National Organization]] (UMNO), held power in the coalition known as the [[Barisan Nasional]] (formerly the Alliance) with other parties since Malaya's independence in 1957 until 2018.<ref name="state.gov"/> In 1973, an alliance of communally based parties was replaced with a broader coalition β the [[Barisan Nasional]] β composed of fourteen parties. Today the Barisan Nasional coalition has three prominent members β the UMNO, MCA ([[Malaysian Chinese Association]]) and MIC ([[Malaysian Indian Congress]]). The current [[Prime Minister of Malaysia]] is from Pakatan Harapan (PH) who is the ex-UMNO leader, marking the first time the post is occupied by a non-UMNO party member.<ref name="bloomberg.com">{{cite news| url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-09/mahathir-wins-malaysia-election-in-historic-power-shift| title = Mahathir Wins in Historic Malaysia Power Shift - Bloomberg| website = [[Bloomberg News]]| date = 9 May 2018}}</ref> In addition to the UMNO and other member parties of the [[Barisan Nasional]] (BN), three main parties (and several smaller parties) compete in national and state-level elections in Malaysia. The three most competitive opposition parties are the [[Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party]] (Parti Islam se-Malaysia, or PAS) and the [[Barisan Nasional]] coalition. The Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) promotes a more Islamist political agenda, the BN Coalition is rather critical about the current ruling government since the May 2018 General Elections.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pepinsky|first=Thomas|title=Economic Crises and the Breakdown of Authoritarian Regimes: Indonesia and Malaysia in Comparative Perspective|url=https://archive.org/details/economiccrisesbr00pepi|url-access=limited|year=2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-74438-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/economiccrisesbr00pepi/page/n80 61]β63}}</ref> Unlike some countries close to Malaysia, such as Thailand or Indonesia, the armed forces are not prominent in politics.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Milne|first=R. S.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50175330|title=Malaysian politics under Mahathir|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|others=Diane K. Mauzy|isbn=0-203-26866-0|location=London|oclc=50175330}}</ref> The political process in Malaysia from 1957 to 2018 has generally been described as taking the form of "[[consociationalism]]" whereby "communal interests are resolved in the framework of a grand coalition". The executive branch is described as tending to dominate political activity, with the Prime Minister's office being in a position to preside "over an extensive and ever growing array of powers to take action against individuals or organisations," and "facilitate business opportunities". Critics of the ruling government generally agree that although authoritarianism in Malaysia preceded the administration of [[Mahathir bin Mohamad]], it was he who "carried the process forward substantially". Legal scholars have suggested that the political "equation for religious and racial harmony" is rather fragile, and that this "fragility stems largely from the identification of religion with race coupled with the [[ketuanan Melayu|political primacy]] of the Malay people colliding with the aspiration of other races for complete equality." During the terms of Dr. [[Mahathir Mohamad]] as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, many constitutional amendments were made. For example, the Senate could only delay a bill from taking effect and the Monarch no longer had veto powers on proposed bills. Also, the 26 state senators were no longer the majority as another 44 senators were appointed by the King at the advice of the Prime Minister.{{clarify|date=May 2013}} The amendments also limited the powers of the judiciary to what parliament grants them. In early September 1998, Prime Minister Mahathir dismissed Deputy Prime Minister [[Anwar Ibrahim]] and accused Anwar of immoral and corrupt conduct. Anwar said his ousting was actually owed to political differences and led a series of demonstrations advocating political reforms. Later in September, Anwar was arrested, beaten while in prison (by among others, the chief of police at the time), and charged with corrupt practices, in both legal and moral contexts, charges including [[obstruction of justice]] and [[sodomy law|sodomy]]. In April 1999, he was convicted of four counts of corruption and sentenced to six years in prison. In August 2000, Anwar was convicted of one count of sodomy and sentenced to nine years to run consecutively after his earlier six-year sentence. Both trials were viewed by domestic and international observers as unfair. Anwar's conviction on sodomy has since been overturned, and having completed his six-year sentence for corruption, he has since been released from prison. In the [[1999 Malaysian general election|November 1999 general election]], the [[Barisan Nasional]] returned to power with three-fourths of the parliamentary seats, but UMNO's seats dropped from 94 to 72. The opposition, the [[Barisan Alternatif]] coalition, led by the [[Islamic Party of Malaysia]] (PAS), increased its seats to 42. PAS retained control of the state of [[Kelantan]] and won the additional state of [[Terengganu]]. [[File:MuhyiddinUS.jpg|alt=|thumb|161x161px|Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, [[Muhyiddin Yassin]]]] The former 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia was Dato' Seri Mohd. Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak. He took office following the retirement of Dato' Seri [[Abdullah Ahmad Badawi]] ([[Colloquialism|colloquially]] known as "Pak Lah") in April 2009.<ref name="Ibrahim, 2012"/> [[Mahathir Mohamad]] took office as the [[Prime Minister of Malaysia]] under the new [[Pakatan Harapan]] government on 10 May 2018. In the [[2004 Malaysian general election|March 2004 general election]], Dato' Seri [[Abdullah Ahmad Badawi]] led [[Barisan Nasional]] to a landslide victory, in which [[Barisan Nasional]] recaptured the state of [[Terengganu]]. The coalition controlled 92% of the seats in Parliament. In 2005, Mahathir stated that "I believe that the country should have a strong government but not too strong. A two-thirds majority like I enjoyed when I was Prime Minister is sufficient but a 90% majority is too strong. ... We need an opposition to remind us if we are making mistakes. When you are not opposed you think everything you do is right." The national media is largely controlled by the government and by political parties in the [[Barisan Nasional]]/National Front ruling coalition and the opposition has little access to the media. The print media is controlled by the Government through the requirement of obtaining annual publication licences under the [[Printing and Presses Act]]. In 2007, a government agency β the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission β issued a directive to all private television and radio stations to refrain from broadcasting speeches made by opposition leaders. The official state ideology is the [[Rukun Negara]], which has been described as encouraging "respect for a pluralistic, multireligious and multicultural society", but political scientists have argued that the slogan of ''Bangsa, Agama, Negara'' (race, religion, nation) used by UMNO constitutes an unofficial ideology too. Both ideologies have "generally been used to reinforce a conservative political ideology, one that is Malay-centred." [[Executive branch|Executive power]] is vested in the [[Cabinet of Malaysia|cabinet]] led by the [[Prime Minister of Malaysia|prime minister]]; the Malaysian [[Constitution of Malaysia|constitution]] stipulates that the prime minister must be a member of the lower house of [[Parliament of Malaysia|parliament]] who, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commands a majority in parliament. The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of Parliament and is responsible to that body. In recent years, the former opposition, now government has been campaigning for freer and fairer elections within Malaysia. On 10 November 2007, a mass rally, called the [[2007 Bersih Rally]], took place in the [[Dataran Merdeka]], Kuala Lumpur at 3 pm to demand for clean and fair elections. The gathering was organised by BERSIH, a coalition comprising political parties and civil society groups(NGOs), and drew supporters from all over the country. On 11 November, the Malaysian government briefly detained de facto opposition leader [[Anwar Ibrahim]] on Tuesday and arrested a human rights lawyer and about a dozen opposition leaders, amid growing complaints that the government was cracking down on dissent. Dozens of policemen blocked the main entrance to the parliament building in [[Kuala Lumpur]] to foil an opposition-led rally. The rally was carried out along with the attempt to submit a protest note to Parliament over a government-backed plan to amend a law that would extend the tenure of the [[Election Commission of Malaysia|Election Commission]] chief, whom the opposition claims is biased. The Malaysian government intensified efforts on 6 March 2008 to portray opposition figure [[Anwar Ibrahim]] as a political turncoat, days ahead of the [[2008 Malaysian general election]] on 8 March 2008 because he posed a legitimate threat to the ruling coalition.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/06/malaysia.elections.ap/index.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921232324/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/06/malaysia.elections.ap/index.html|date=21 September 2008}}</ref> Campaigning wrapped up 7 March 2008 for general elections that could see gains for [[Malaysia]]'s opposition amid anger over race and religion among minority Chinese and [[India]]ns.<ref name="CNN">[http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/07/malay.elex.ap/index.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612112135/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/07/malay.elex.ap/index.html|date=12 June 2008}}</ref> Malaysians voted 8 March 2008 in parliamentary elections.<ref name="CNN"/> Election results showed that the ruling government suffered a setback when it failed to obtain two-thirds majority in parliament, and five out of 12 state legislatures were won by the opposition parties.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7284682.stm | work=BBC News | title=Election setback for Malaysia PM | date=8 March 2008}}</ref> Reasons for the setback of the ruling party, which has retained power since the nation declared independence in 1957, were rising inflation, crime and ethnic tensions.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/09/malaysia.elections/index.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921190718/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/09/malaysia.elections/index.html|date=21 September 2008}}</ref> 2018 marks the first time since independence in 1957 that a non-UMNO party namely PH formed the federal government.<ref name="bloomberg.com"/> PH leader [[Anwar Ibrahim]] was then freed after receiving a royal pardon from the king and was designated to take over as PM from [[Mahathir Mohamad]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.malaysiandigest.com/features/737884-anwar-ibrahim-returns-today.html |title=Anwar Ibrahim Returns Today |access-date=16 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516100126/http://malaysiandigest.com/features/737884-anwar-ibrahim-returns-today.html |archive-date=16 May 2018 |url-status=usurped |df=dmy-all }}</ref> However, things did not go well and the 22 months-old Pakatan Harapan administration fell in March 2020 during the [[2020 Malaysian political crisis|2020 political crisis]], having lost the majority number of seats required to hold power as government. They were then replaced by the Perikatan Nasional government, with Muhyiddin as Prime Minister. However, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned after 17 months in office.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://thediplomat.com/2021/08/malaysias-muhyiddin-finally-steps-down-as-prime-minister/| title = Malaysia's Muhyiddin Finally Steps Down As Prime Minister β The Diplomat}}</ref> On 21 August 2021, [[Ismail Sabri Yaakob]] was sworn in as the countryβs ninth prime minister. The new prime minister was a veteran politician from UMNO.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/21/malaysias-ismail-sabri-yaakob-sworn-in-as-new-pm| title = Malaysia's Ismail Sabri Yaakob sworn in as new PM {{!}} Politics News {{!}} Al Jazeera}}</ref> In the November 2022 Malaysian general [[2022 Malaysian general election|election]], opposition leader [[Anwar Ibrahim]]βs [[Pakatan Harapan]] (PH) coalition won 82 seats and former Prime Minister [[Muhyiddin Yassin]]βs [[Perikatan Nasional]] (PN) gained 73 seats. Prime Minister [[Ismail Sabri Yaakob]]βs ruling [[Barisan Nasional]] (BN) coalition was the biggest loser, securing just 30 seats in the 222-member parliament.<ref>{{cite news |title=No clear winner as Malaysia election ends in hung parliament |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/19/tight-race-as-votes-counted-in-malaysias-in-general-election |work=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref> On 24 November 2022, Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as the 10th [[Prime Minister of Malaysia]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Anwar Ibrahim sworn in as Malaysian PM after post-election deadlock |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63698901 |work=BBC News |date=24 November 2022}}</ref>
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