Constitutional Constitutional Monarchy – Concept, Roles and Challenges Every country in this world needs a system of governance to ensure the stability of a country's politics, social and economics. A historical fact that none of us can deny is that the monarchy is the oldest system of government. This system has taken a revolution from the civilization of Mesopotamia to a modern system that is being used in most of the countries nowada nowadays. ys. Malays Malaysia ia has its uniue uniue system system of constit constituti utiona onall monarch monarchy y. !n our country country,, constitutional monarchy was combined with representative democracy. This statement means that the king has a traditional obligation but the country is under the power of the people's representatives. This system gives each of the nine state rulers a chance to be the ruler of this nation for five years in rotation. The "ang "ang di#$ertuan Agong is appointed as the head of the country by the %onference of &ulers. Monarchy system is not a foreign concept to Malaysian since it is already trod in this land even before the European power hit our Malaya. e, as Malaysians, should be thankful that nine states in Malaysia still remain under the auspices of the (ing. !t is because the king plays a very important role in creating a sovereign country. "oung generations like to think that the role of the king in constitutional monarchy has diminished but this opinion is not true at all. "ang di#$ertuan Agong is the head of this country. Therefore, he has the power in all three authorities of government consisting of the e)ecutive e)ecutive authority, authority, the legislative legislative authority and the *udicial authority. authority.
"ang di#$ertuan di#$ertuan
Agong has the power to act at the discretion of the three constitutional functions with the advice of the %abinet. +ased on the book Raja Raja Berperlembagaan Malaysia - Raja-Raja Melayu dan Yang di-Pertuan Agong , , the three functions are to appoint the $rime Minister, agree or disagree with the reuest to dissolve $arliament and command the %onference of &ulers to have a meeting to discuss the benefits, position, eminence and greatness of the king and take action. !n addition to the wisdom of the king as the head of state, the efficiency of 1
the $rime Minister as the head of government also strongly influences the progress of a country. Therefore, the role of the "ang di#$ertuan Agong in choosing a suitable and ualified $rime Minister directly increase the chances for our country to progress in all aspects. !n brief, the role of the king in the e)ecutive authority is very important in the development of our country. The -ederal legislative power rests in the country's parliament. $arliament consists of the "ang di#$ertuan Agung and two councils, namely the enate and the /ouse of &epresentatives. As a component of the parliament, "ang di#$ertuan Agong has the power to command the parliament to meet anytime. /e also has the power to dismiss or dissolve the parliament. !n the book 0 Malaysia – Asas Pembinaan Negara Bangsa, Institusi Pemerintahan, Lambang ebangsaan! by a writer named %hamil ariya, it is written that "ang di#$ertuan Agong will be allocated 12 days to give his assent to the bill. The first 32 days is to put his views and suggestions and send it to parliament to be discussed and approved again while the ne)t 32 days is to give his consent. "ang di#$ertuan Agong also reuired to seal the bill which approved by the legislature. Therefore, the role of the king in the legislative branch is indeed not to be doubted. !n addition, "ang di#$ertuan Agong also plays an important role in the *udicial authority. Among the responsibilities of "ang di#$ertuan Agong in the *udicial authority is to appoint the %hief 4ustice of the -ederal %ourt, the %hief 4udge of the /igh %ourt in abah and arawak, 4udge of the upreme %ourt and many others. "ang di#$ertuan Agong is also the head of !slam for his state as well as for states that do not have a sultan, namely Malacca, $enang, abah, arawak and the -ederal Territory of (uala 5umpur, $utra*aya and 5abuan. As the head of the !slamic religion, the "ang di#$ertuan Agong is responsible for appointing religious leaders to guide people in religious affairs and ensure that the people loyal to the king's rule. 6ther than that, it is the responsibility of "ang di# 2
$ertuan Agong to safeguard the special position of the Malays, indigenous of abah and arawak and the legitimate rights of other communities such as !ndians and %hinese in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. o, the "ang di#$ertuan Agong is the main pillar of our country's success in upholding *ustice system in Malaysia and preserve our heritage. As the %hief 4ustice, "ang di#$ertuan Agong has the power to grant amnesty, reprives and respites or of remitting, suspending or commuting sentences to an offender. /ence, the "ang di#$ertuan Agung also plays the role as head of the national army. The main responsibility of the Armed -orces is to defend national7s security. Malaysian Armed -orces 8ATM9 is divided into three service branches, namely the Malaysian Army, &oyal Malaysian :avy and &oyal Malaysian Air -orce. The "ang di#$ertuan Agung is also responsible in selecting the %hief of Armed -orces, a professional head to lead the Armed -orces and the ma*ority of the members of the Armed -orces %ouncil is on "ang di#$ertuan Agong7s appointment. o, it is crystal clear that our country7s safety lies in the wise choices of our "ang di#$ertuan Agong. The "ang di#$ertuan Agong plays a variety of roles to ensure the welfare of our country, though he still faces many challenges. 6ne of the biggest challenges that faced by the Malay rulers is to build confidence in the role of the king and the monarchy itself. This is because the perception of the people about the monarchy is still fragile. o when they do not understand the concept of a constitutional monarchy, they seem to be lack of conviction and sceptical about the role of the king. As a result, the confidence of the people in the role and e)istence of the king start to fade and their loyalty not only towards the "ang di#$ertuan Agong but even towards the country also diminish. This problem becomes more severe when the different political ideologies begin to circulate into the community. ;ifferent political ideologies of the various parties often confuse the people. 6pinions such as these should be 3
eliminated. $eople should be given e)posure to the system of government of our country and the role of the monarchy so that they do not doubt the future of the country. !n addition, efforts to eliminate the monarchy and replace it with the e)isting system of government like the republican system is also one of the challenges faced by the king now. Many do not realize that we are safer in the shades of our king. This is because the monarchy system has already been established in our land since $arameswara founded the monarchy in Melaka before about si) centuries ago again. Thus, our rulers are individuals who are more knowledgeable and e)perienced than us in facing all the challenges that a country can possibly encounter. :ot everyone who has a degree in political science can involve in politics. !n other words, efforts to abolish the monarchy is an attempt to dig ourselves into a hole. Therefore, people must *oin hands in order to maintain the monarchy in our country. !n addition, the lack of patriotism among the people is also a challenge for our kings. The king is the pillar of unity among Malaysians because he is the authority and unity of the country. Therefore, we should give him strong support so that the king can continue to rule the country well but what would happen if the people refuse to support< hat would happen if the people have no loyalty towards the king< The answer can be obtained if we look back to the past. The glory of Malacca is known by everyone but only a few know the reasons for such a sovereign country to collapse. $eople of Malacca began to lose spirit of patriotic and cultivate values that are not good within themselves. That7s the reason why the government of Malacca destroyed. The lessons that we can learn from this is when one loses the spirit of patriotism, it means he had lost his civic identity. :ow the words of wisdom of =eorge antayana, a philosopher that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it had been proven. Therefore, we must be citizens who are knowledgeable in the history of our country, enhance the spirit of patriotism and forever give support to our king. 4
!n conclusion, the role of the Malay rulers has evolved over time as the monarchy system. !ndeed, the constitutional monarchy is our tradition and there7s no need for us to doubt that system. o, as our second principle of the &ukun :egara says, let7s have loyalty to our (ing and %ountry as it leads to prosperity of our country. May the Malay rulers and "ang di#pertuan Agong remain as potent symbols of our country7s sovereignty.
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