Asymmetric power in Malaysian politics : Muhyiddin’s domination

Muhyiddin’s appointment as Malaysia’s prime minister in February 2020 came as a surprise to many. What is even more surprising is that he was able to defend his position despite having a dubious majority. His ability to dominate politics is something that needs to be explored. This article unfold...

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Main Authors: Tunku Nashril-Abaidah, Mohammad Agus Yusoff
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19821/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19821/1/54047-184758-1-PB.pdf
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author Tunku Nashril-Abaidah,
Mohammad Agus Yusoff,
author_facet Tunku Nashril-Abaidah,
Mohammad Agus Yusoff,
author_sort Tunku Nashril-Abaidah,
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Muhyiddin’s appointment as Malaysia’s prime minister in February 2020 came as a surprise to many. What is even more surprising is that he was able to defend his position despite having a dubious majority. His ability to dominate politics is something that needs to be explored. This article unfolds the factors of this domination and provides a theoretical explanation. It argues that the asymmetrical power stipulated by the constitution resulted in the domination of the prime minister in Malaysia, thus creating an imbalance of power for the prime minister to be the dominant political actor. Although Muhyiddin was seen as a weak political player, his position as prime minister has allowed him to dominate the political process and centralise his powers from the nature of asymmetrical power. This article is qualitative in nature and uses interview as the main data collection method. This paper concludes that the prime minister will forever be the dominant actor if centralisation becomes the fundamental governing element.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:198212022-09-24T23:46:52Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19821/ Asymmetric power in Malaysian politics : Muhyiddin’s domination Tunku Nashril-Abaidah, Mohammad Agus Yusoff, Muhyiddin’s appointment as Malaysia’s prime minister in February 2020 came as a surprise to many. What is even more surprising is that he was able to defend his position despite having a dubious majority. His ability to dominate politics is something that needs to be explored. This article unfolds the factors of this domination and provides a theoretical explanation. It argues that the asymmetrical power stipulated by the constitution resulted in the domination of the prime minister in Malaysia, thus creating an imbalance of power for the prime minister to be the dominant political actor. Although Muhyiddin was seen as a weak political player, his position as prime minister has allowed him to dominate the political process and centralise his powers from the nature of asymmetrical power. This article is qualitative in nature and uses interview as the main data collection method. This paper concludes that the prime minister will forever be the dominant actor if centralisation becomes the fundamental governing element. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2022 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19821/1/54047-184758-1-PB.pdf Tunku Nashril-Abaidah, and Mohammad Agus Yusoff, (2022) Asymmetric power in Malaysian politics : Muhyiddin’s domination. Geografia : Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 18 (2). pp. 131-142. ISSN 2180-2491 https://ejournal.ukm.my/gmjss/issue/view/1523
spellingShingle Tunku Nashril-Abaidah,
Mohammad Agus Yusoff,
Asymmetric power in Malaysian politics : Muhyiddin’s domination
title Asymmetric power in Malaysian politics : Muhyiddin’s domination
title_full Asymmetric power in Malaysian politics : Muhyiddin’s domination
title_fullStr Asymmetric power in Malaysian politics : Muhyiddin’s domination
title_full_unstemmed Asymmetric power in Malaysian politics : Muhyiddin’s domination
title_short Asymmetric power in Malaysian politics : Muhyiddin’s domination
title_sort asymmetric power in malaysian politics : muhyiddin’s domination
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19821/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19821/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19821/1/54047-184758-1-PB.pdf