Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system modelled loosely on Westminster. Federal laws are made by Parliament, which sits in Kuala Lumpur and is made up of two chambers — the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) and the Dewan Negara (Senate) — together with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the constitutional monarch. Understanding how these three parts fit together is the key to reading almost any story about Malaysian politics.
The Dewan Rakyat: the elected house
The Dewan Rakyat is the more powerful of the two chambers because it is directly elected by voters. It has 222 members of Parliament (MPs), each representing a single geographic constituency — from Padang Besar in the far north to the seats of Sabah and Sarawak in Borneo. MPs are elected using first-past-the-post: whoever wins the most votes in a constituency wins the seat, even without an outright majority.
A Parliament lasts a maximum of five years from its first sitting, after which it is automatically dissolved and a general election must be held. In practice the Prime Minister usually advises the King to dissolve Parliament earlier, choosing the timing of the election. Whichever party or coalition can command the confidence of a majority of the 222 MPs — that is, at least 112 — forms the government, and its leader becomes Prime Minister.
The Dewan Negara: the appointed house
The Dewan Negara, or Senate, is Malaysia's upper house. It has 70 senators, and unlike MPs they are not elected by the public. Twenty-six are chosen by the 13 state legislative assemblies — two per state — while the remaining 44 are appointed by the King on the advice of the Prime Minister, including four who represent the federal territories. Senators serve three-year terms and may be re-appointed once.
The Senate is designed as a chamber of review. It debates and can delay legislation, and it is a route through which people who are not elected MPs — including experts and minority-community representatives — can be brought into government, since ministers can be drawn from either house.
How a law is made
Most legislation begins as a bill introduced in the Dewan Rakyat. It goes through several readings and debate, and if passed is sent to the Dewan Negara, which considers it in turn. Once both houses agree, the bill is presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for royal assent, after which it is gazetted and becomes law. The Senate can delay a bill but cannot indefinitely block one that the elected house is determined to pass.
What an MP actually does
An MP's job has two sides. In Parliament, they debate bills, vote on legislation and the budget, ask questions of ministers, and sit on committees that scrutinise how the government spends money and runs the country. In their constituency, they act as a local representative — raising residents' problems, running service centres, and channelling development funds. When people ask whether an MP is 'doing their job', they usually mean some mix of both: showing up to Parliament and being present for the community.