Roles
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong's role is that of a constitutional monarch. The Federal Constitution and Parliamentary Acts made in accordance with it define the extent of his powers as the Federal Head of State. The executive power of the federal government is vested in him.
The monarch's powers are basically divided into two broad categories:
- the powers that he exercises on the advice of the Prime Minister, a Minister, the Cabinet, the Conference of Rulers, or some other officer or institution; and
- the powers that he exercises at his discretion (without the consent of any other authority).
The discretionary powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong pertain chiefly to appointing the Prime Minister, withholding consent to dissolve Parliament, and calling meetings with the Conference of Rulers "concerned solely with the privileges, position, honours and dignities of Their Royal Highnesses." Under the Westminster System, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is expected to appoint a Prime Minister who will command the confidence of a majority of the elected lower house of Parliament, the Dewan Rakyat. Should the Prime Minister be or become unacceptable, he may be forced out by a vote of no confidence, which would require the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament on advice of the Prime Minister, or refuse to dissolve Parliament and appoint someone else as Prime Minister. Conventionally, the Prime Minister is the head of the party with a majority in Parliament. Since independence in 1957, this has been the Barisan Nasional (National Front, formerly known as the Alliance).
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong renews the appointment of a Prime Minister after every general election until the minister decides to step down. Whenever the Prime Minister chooses to dissolve Parliament, he calls for a general election. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may choose to refuse a Prime Minister's request to dissolve Parliament, as one of his discretionary powers.
Read more about this topic: Yang Di-Pertuan Agong
Famous quotes containing the word roles:
“It was always the work that was the gyroscope in my life. I don’t know who could have lived with me. As an architect you’re absolutely devoured. A woman’s cast in a lot of roles and a man isn’t. I couldn’t be an architect and be a wife and mother.”
—Eleanore Kendall Pettersen (b. 1916)
“A concern with parenting...must direct attention beyond behavior. This is because parenting is not simply a set of behaviors, but participation in an interpersonal, diffuse, affective relationship. Parenting is an eminently psychological role in a way that many other roles and activities are not.”
—Nancy Chodorow (20th century)
“Modern women are squeezed between the devil and the deep blue sea, and there are no lifeboats out there in the form of public policies designed to help these women combine their roles as mothers and as workers.”
—Sylvia Ann Hewitt (20th century)