Conventional Long Form of Country's Name:
none Capital City: Kuala Lumpur Type of Government: Constitutional Monarchy Date of Independence: August 31 1957 (from the UK) National Holiday: Independence Day- August 31 Malaysia Day- September 16 Chief of State: King Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Head of Government: Prime Minister Najib Razak Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin bin Mohamed Yassin Description of Executive Branch: cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister from among the members of Parliament with consent of the king. elections: kings are elected by and from the hereditary rulers of nine of the states for five-year terms; selection is based on the principle of rotation among rulers of states; elections were last held on 14 October 201. prime ministers are designated from among the members of the House of Representatives; following legislative elections, the leader who commands the support of the majority of members in the House becomes prime minister (since independence this has been the leader of the UMNO party) election results: Tuanku Abdul HALIM Mu'adzam Shah elected king; Mohamed NAJIB bin Abdul Razak was sworn in as Prime Minister after winning a party election for the presidency of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the party that leads the coalition with a majority of seats in parliament Description of Legislative Branch: bicameral Parliament consists of Senate or Dewan Negara (70 seats; 44 members appointed by the king, 26 elected by 13 state legislatures to serve three-year terms with a two term limit) and House of Representatives or Dewan Rakyat (222 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve up to five-year terms) elections: House of Representatives - last held on 8 March 2008 (next to be held by June 2013) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote BN coalition 50.3%, opposition parties 46.8%, others 2.9%; seats - BN coalition 140, opposition parties 82; (seats by party as of March 2011 - BN coalition 137, opposition parties 76, independents 9) |
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Description of Judicial Branch
civil courts include Federal Court, Court of Appeal, High Court of Malaya on peninsula Malaysia, and High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in states of Borneo (judges are appointed by the king on the advice of the prime minister); sharia courts include Sharia Appeal Court, Sharia High Court, and Sharia Subordinate Courts at state-level and deal with religious and family matters such as custody, divorce, and inheritance only for Muslims; decisions of sharia courts cannot be appealed to civil courts Sufferage 21 years of age: universal Their Ambassador to U.S. Othman Bin Hashim Location of Their Embassy in U.S. 3516 International Court NW, Washington, DC Locations of Their Consulates in the U.S. New York, Los Angeles U.S. Ambassador to Them Paul W. Jones Location of U.S. Embassy There 376 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur Locations of U.S. Consulants There none Name of Their Representative to UN Hasmy Agam National Symbol tiger Flag Description 14 equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a yellow crescent and a yellow 14-pointed star; the flag is often referred to as Jalur Gemilang (Stripes of Glory); the 14 stripes stand for the equal status in the federation of the 13 member states and the federal government; the 14 points on the star represent the unity between these entities; the crescent is a traditional symbol of Islam; blue symbolizes the unity of the Malay people and yellow is the royal color of Malay rulers |