Editing Politics of Malaysia (section)

==System of government==
Malaysia is a [[Federal state|federation]] of [[States and federal territories of Malaysia|13 states and 3 federal territories]]. The system of government in Malaysia is closely modelled on that of [[Westminster System|Westminster]] [[parliamentary system]], a legacy of [[British Empire|British colonial rule]].<ref name="FITA">{{cite web |url=http://www.fita.org/countries/malaysia.html?ma_rubrique=cadre |title=Malaysia Information |publisher=Fita.org |access-date=27 October 2010 |archive-date=26 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226105342/http://www.fita.org/countries/malaysia.html?ma_rubrique=cadre |url-status=dead }}</ref> In practice however, more power is vested in the executive branch of government than in the legislative, and the judiciary has been weakened by sustained attacks by the government during the Mahathir era.<ref name="Milne">{{Cite book  | last = Milne   | first = Robert Stephen  |author2=Diane K Mauzy | title = Malaysian Politics Under Mahathir  | publisher = Routledge  | year = 1999  | location = New York  | pages = [https://archive.org/details/malaysianpolitic00mauz/page/n49 29]–50 | url =https://archive.org/details/malaysianpolitic00mauz| url-access = limited   | isbn = 978-0-415-17143-4 }}</ref><ref name="SallehAbas">{{Cite book  | last = Salles Abas  | first = Mohamed  |author2=K. Das | title = May Day for Justice  | publisher = Magnus Books  | year = 1989  | location = Kuala Lumpur  | isbn =     983-9631-00-4 }}</ref><ref name="RobertsonUBCLR">{{Cite journal  | last =  Robertson | first =  G | title = Malaysia: Justice Hangs In The Balance  | journal = UBC Law Review  | volume = 25  | issue =  1 | publisher =  University of British Columbia | location =  Vancouver | year = 1991  }}</ref> [[Malaysian general election|Parliamentary elections]] are held at least once every five years, usually concurrent with state elections for state assemblies except for Sabah (until 2004) and Sarawak.<ref name="dfat">{{cite web|url=http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/malaysia/malaysia_brief.html |title=Malaysia country brief |publisher=dfat.gov.au |date=October 2010 |access-date=19 February 2011}}</ref>