1 Constitutional History and Political Developments

This chapter discusses the constitutional history and political developments in Malaysia. An independent Federation of Malaya began on 31 August 1957. Though described as a ‘federal’ Constitution of an ‘orthodox’ nature, the chequered history of the birth of the then Malayan Constitution indicated that the negotiations were concerned not with the distribution of federal and State powers, but rather with the tortuous hammering out of acceptable terms and compromises among the various racial components of the Malaysian society, especially on matters of communal interests. The chapter covers establishment of the Malayan Union; the Federation of Malaya Agreement of 1948; creation of the independent Constitutional Commission under the chairmanship of Lord Reid; formation of Malaysia; the separation of Singapore from Malaysia; the 1966 Sarawak crisis; the 1983 and 1993 constitutional crises; the 1988 judiciary crisis; 1988 constitutional amendments; the Anwar Ibrahim saga and rise of Reformasi; and the 2009 general elections.