Guide to Citizens’ Rights and Responsibilities

G O V E R N M E N T S   O F   T H E   W O R L D
M a l a y s i a
intransigent: an inability compromise or to
deviate from principle
■ ■ ■  
infringe: to exceed the limits of; to violate
statute: a law created by a legislature that is
inferior to constitutional law

Malaysia’s worst ethnic riots led to the suspension of the constitution and a state
of emergency, the Alliance/BN coalition has always had at least a two-thirds
majority in parliament. In March 2004, the BN won a landslide victory: 90 percent
of the seats with 64 percent of the popular vote.
The two major opposition parties are the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), a
Malay party, and the Democratic Action Party (DAP), multiethnic but over-
whelmingly Chinese. PAS, which is becoming increasingly conservative and
theocratic, campaigns for Islamic law and the creation of an Islamic state and
competes directly against UMNO. The DAP, which seeks more ethnic equality
and democratization, competes primarily against the BN’s Chinese and Indian
parties. Neither has been able to make much headway against the BN, which
controls the entire political center with its support for civil law, religious mod-
eration, political stability and economic growth.
PA R T I C I PAT I O N ,   I N T E R E S T   G R O U P S ,   A N D   C I V I L   S O C I E T Y
Relatively high voter participation in elections (in 2004, some 72.77% of regis-
tered voters cast their ballots for the seats contested) is partly due to the existence
of strong party machinery. There are numerous restrictions on participation. The
Societies Act requires that all associations of seven or more members be registered
and approved, and this approval can be revoked. The government has tolerated,
albeit ignored, most domestic non-governmental organizations, including those
focusing on human rights. International non-governmental organizations, however,
have usually not been allowed to set up offices in Malaysia.
P E R S O N A L   S E C U R I T Y   A N D   H U M A N   R I G H T S
For most people, personal security, meaning freedom from torture,
imprisonment, disappearance, or death, is protected by the state. People do
not disappear in the night, and politics is mostly nonviolent. Generally, the
human rights of Malaysians are respected. There are concerns about the
impartiality of the judiciary and restrictions on various freedoms, and in two
areas there are serious problems. The first problem is police abuse—there are
consistently unexplained deaths in apprehending suspects and while in
custody and cases of mistreatment of detainees. The second problem is the
repression of political opponents through the use of the Internal Security
Act (ISA), which allows for detention without charge or trial of persons.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (b. 1947), who challenged
Mahathir for political power, was originally arrested under the ISA and
remained in prison until September 2004. The leader of the opposition in
parliament in 2004 spent several years in detention, and the son of the leader
of PAS in 2004 was in detention under the ISA.
Thus, although Malaysia has made considerable progress as an economically
dynamic, progressive, and moderate Muslim-majority state, democratization is
incomplete and authoritarian tendencies remain.
See also: 
Constitutions and Constitutionalism; Singapore.
B I B L I O G R A P H Y
Camroux, David. “State Responses to Islamic Resurgence in Malaysia: Accommodation,
Cooption and Confrontation,” Asian Survey, 36, no. 9 (1996):852–68.
Case, William. Islamic Elites and Regimes in Malaysia: Revisiting Consociational
Democracy. Clayton, Australia: Monash Asia Institute, 1996.
G O V E R N M E N T S   O F   T H E   W O R L D
123
M a l a y s i a
M A L AY S I A N   D E V E L O P M E N T
A N D   G L O B A L I Z AT I O N
■ ■ ■
From the 1980s until the Asian
financial crisis in 1997 and 1998,
Malaysia enjoyed rapid economic
development, with its gross domes-
tic product (GDP) growth averag-
ing
almost 8
percent a year.
Manufacturing increased from
14 percent of GDP in 1970 to 30.4
percent in 2002. The GDP grew by an
average of 4.7 percent between
1999 and 2003 (pulled down by
0.4% growth in 2001), and estimates
for 2004 were 6 percent.

Crouch, Harold. Government and Society in Malaysia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Press, 1996.
Department of Statistics Malaysia. Population Distribution and Basic Demographic
Characteristics Report: Population and Housing Census 2000.
Ͻhttp://www.statis-
tics.gov.my/English/pressdemo.htm
Ͼ.
Faaland, Just, J. R. Parkinson, and Rais Saniman. Growth and Ethnic Inequality:
Malaysia’s New Economic Policy. London: Hurst, 1990.
Gomez, E. T., and K. S. Jomo. Malaysian Political Economy: Politics, Patronage and
Profits. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Jayasankaran, S. “Malaysia: A Vote of Confidence,” Far Eastern Economic Review
(April 1, 2004):18–19.
Jesudasan, James. Ethnicity and the Economy: The State, Chinese Business, and the
Multinationals in Malaysia. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Khoo, Boo Teik. Paradoxes of Mahathirism. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Loh, Francis Kok Wah, and Khoo Boo Teik, eds. Democracy in Malaysia: Discourses and
Practices. Richmond, UK: Curzon Press, 2002.
Means, Gordon. Malaysian Politics: The Second Generation. Singapore: Oxford
University Press, 1991.
Milne, R. S. and Diane K. Mauzy. Politics and Government in Malaysia, rev. ed. Singapore:
Times Books International, 1980.
Milne, R. S. and Diane K. Mauzy. Malaysian Politics under Mahathir. London: Routledge,
1999.
Milne, R. S. and K. J. Ratnam. New States in a New Nation: Political Development of
Sarawak and Sabah. London: Frank Cass, 1974.
Shamsul, Amri Baharuddin. From British to Bumiputera Rule: Local Politics and Rural
Development in Peninsula Malaysia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies, 1986.
Shamsul, Amri Baharuddin. “The Battle Royal: The UMNO Election of 1987.” In Southeast
Asian Affairs 1988, eds. Mohd. Ayoob and Ng Chee Yuen. Singapore: Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies, 1988.
Stubbs, Richard. Hearts and Minds in Guerrilla Warfare: The Malayan Emergency,
1940–1960. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1989.
U.S. Department of State. Background Note: Malaysia.
Ͻhttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/
bgn/2777.htm
Ͼ.
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Malaysia:
Country Reports of Human Rights Practices 2003. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of State, 2003. 
Ͻhttp://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27778.htmϾ.
Zakaria, Haji Ahmad, ed. Government and Politics in Malaysia. Singapore: Oxford
University Press, 1987.
Diane K. Mauzy
Maldives
The Republic of the Maldives is located in the Indian Ocean, the south-
southwest of India. The Maldives comprises approximately 1,200 coral islands,
grouped into twenty-six atolls, and covers an area of 300 square kilometers
(116 square miles). The capital and most populated city of the Maldives is Male.
The Maldives long lived independently, with the exception of the period
between 1556 and 1578, during which the Portuguese ruled. In 1887, the country
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M a l d i v e s

became a British protectorate, which ended when it became a fully independent
state on July 26, 1965. After independence, Ibrahim Nasir (b. 1926) served as pres-
ident from 1968 to 1978. He was succeeded in 1978 by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
(b. 1937), who has since been reelected as the president of the Maldives five
times, in 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, and 2003.
The economic life of the Maldives relies heavily on tourism and fishing.
The gross domestic product per capita in 2003 was $2,027. The total life
expectancy is approximately 63 years, and the literacy rate for the total popu-
lation is over 97 percent. Sunni Islam is the dominant religion, which
profoundly shapes the social and political life of the Maldives. The common
language is Dhivehi. The population of 339,330, as estimated in July 2004, is
a blend of the ethnic groups that include Sinhalese, Dravidian, Arab, and
African.
Historically, the Maldives were long ruled by sultans,
although the sultanate regime became constitutional with the
promulgation of the 1932 constitution. The Maldives experi-
enced a very short period of republican form of government
in 1953 and 1554, but the country remained a sultanate until
1968 when a republican form of government was instituted.
The first constitution of the Republic of the Maldives was
promulgated on June 4, 1968.
The government of the Maldives has three branches: exec-
utive, legislative, and judiciary. The executive power is held by
the president and cabinet, with political power highly central-
ized in the office of the president, who is both chief of the state
and head of the government. The president is elected by the
parliament (majlis) and has to be approved by the public in a
yes-or-no referendum. The president is aided by the Council of
Minister, which comprises the ministers of atolls. Ministers are
appointed by the president and do not have to be members of
the majlis.
The legislative power lies in the majlis, a unicameral par-
liament. The majlis consists of forty-eight members, forty of
whom are elected for five-year terms, with eight appointed by
the president. The judiciary is divided into courts of general
and limited jurisdiction and includes a high court, civil court,
criminal court, family and juvenile court, and 204 general
courts. The legal system is based on a mixture of Islamic law
and the English common law in commercial matters.
Administratively, the country is divided into nineteen atolls
and the capital city.
The political life of the Maldives is characterized by the
absence of political parties and interest groups to organize
citizen participation in political life. Parties and groups are
discouraged due to the emphasis on unity and homogeneity.
Despite the general and formal appreciation of human rights
and freedoms, there are some restrictions and occasional
violations of freedoms and rights, especially speech, press, and
religion, and Freedom House rated the Maldives in 2004 as
“not free.”
See also: 
Shari’a.
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125
M a l d i v e s
Ka
rd
iva
Ch
an
nel
V
ei
m
an
du
Ch
an
nel
One and Half Degree
Channel
Equatorial Channel
Arabian
Sea
Ihavandiffulu
Atoll
Tiladummati
Atoll
Miladummadulu
Atoll
Fadiffolu
Atoll
Malé
Atoll
South Malé
Atoll
Felidu Atoll
Mulaku
Atoll
Haddummati
Atoll
Addu
Atoll
Suvadiva
Atoll
Kolumadulu
Atoll
Nilandu
Atoll
Ari
Atoll
Horsburgh
Atoll
South
Malosmadulu
Atoll
North
Malosmadulu
Atoll
Malcolm
Atoll
Malé
Maldives
W
S
N
E
MALDIVES
100 Miles
0
0
100 Kilometers
50
50
(MAP BY MARYLAND CARTOGRAPHICS/ THE GALE GROUP)

B I B L I O G R A P H Y
Adeney, M., and W. K. Carr. “The Maldives Republic.” In The Politics of the Western Indian
Ocean Islands, ed. John M. Ostheimer. New York: Praeger, 1975.
Freedom House. “Maldives.” Freedom in the World 2004. New York: Freedom House,
2004.
Ͻhttp://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2004/countryratings/
maldives.htm
Ͼ.
Henerdahl, Thor. The Maldives Mystery. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1986.
“Maldives.” CIA World Factbook. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2005.
Ͻhttp://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mv.htmlϾ.
The Ministry of Planning and National Development of the Republic of the Maldives, Statistic
Section. “Maldives: Key Indicators 2004.” Malé, Republic of the Maldives: The Ministry
of Planning and National Development of the Republic of the Maldives, Statistic
Section, 2004. 
Ͻhttp://www.planning.gov.mv/yrb2004/keyindicators/keyindi2k4.pdf Ͼ.
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. “Senegal.”
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2004. 
Ͻhttp://www.state.gov/
g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27948.htm
Ͼ.
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of South Asian Affairs. “Background Note: Maldives.”
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of South Asian Affairs, 2005.
Ͻhttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5476.htmϾ.
Isa Camyar
Mali
Mali, in the heart of West Africa with a population of approximately 12 mil-
lion, has a surface area roughly equal to that of California and Texas combined.
The northern half of the country is arid and forms part of the Sahara Desert. To
the south, Mali has an expanse of Sahelian plain and the internal delta of the
Niger River, which serves as a vital economic and cultural link. Mali has over a
dozen ethnic groups including Bambara (35% of the population), Peuhl or Fulani
(15%), Moore and Toureg (9%), Songhai (8%), Soninke (8%), and Dogon (4%).
Eighty-five percent of Malians are Muslim, and small minorities are Christian or
practitioners of indigenous religions.
Mali takes political inspiration from a succession of historic empires (the
Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire), which were largely
based within the modern boundaries of the country. By the mid-1500s, the
Songhai Empire, based in Timbuktu, had fallen into decline as the slave trade
with Europe shifted major economic power to groups along the ocean coast
to the south and west. The French took colonial control over this area by the
late 1800s, and by 1920 the French had largely established the state’s current
international boundaries. Colonial rule provided some economic development
mixed with oppressive and racist policies. The population, united in opposition
to French colonialism, saw their demands fulfilled when the newly named
Republic of Mali gained its independence on September 22, 1960.
Modibo Keita (1915–1977), a former schoolteacher and union leader, served
as Mali’s first president. Keita embraced 
international socialism
and had close ties
with China during the 1960s. However, economic growth proved elusive and the
Keita regime became increasingly heavy-handed, jailing its political opponents and
allowing its political allies to take advantage of state resources. In 1968, a military
coup brought to power Moussa Traoré (b. 1936), a young lieutenant whose corrupt
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G O V E R N M E N T S   O F   T H E   W O R L D
M a l i
international socialism: a movement to
expand socialism worldwide, advocating
greater economic cooperation between
countries for the benefit of all people
■ ■ ■  

leadership ultimately undermined his initial popularity and quickly eroded the
military’s reformist reputation.
After over two decades of military rule, pro-democracy agitation surged in
1990. By March 1990, the “People’s Revolution” had gained unstoppable momen-
tum and when the military began shooting protestors, a reform-minded 
faction
of soldiers arrested Traoré and brought calm to the country. A new transitional
government of national unity, led by Amadou Toumani Touré (b. 1948), guided
the country through a national conference, a constitutional 
referendum
, and
the founding elections of a multiparty political system. These elections brought
former university professor Alpha Oumar (b. 1946) to the office of the president.
After serving two five-year terms that were marked by important political and
economic gains, Oumar left office and was replaced by his predecessor, Touré.
In the early twenty-first century Mali remained one of the poorest nations in
the world. Nonetheless, Mali’s citizens enjoyed national unity and a largely peace-
ful mosaic of ethnic, religious and regional tolerance. Economic growth in Mali was
stable through the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, population growth contin-
ued to outpace economic growth and thus standards of living continued to decline.
Mali is a 
constitutional republic
, with leaders at all levels elected by univer-
sal adult suffrage. The president of the republic is also the head of state and
appoints a prime minister to lead the government. The prime minister provides
day-to-day management of the various ministries of government, and the presi-
dent sets general policy. The legislative arm of government is the National
Assembly. The prime minister and other government ministers present pro-
posed laws to the National Assembly for their consideration. Mali’s legal system
is based on French civil code as well as customary law, and judicial review of
legislative acts is permitted in the constitutional court.
G O V E R N M E N T S   O F   T H E   W O R L D
127
M a l i
factionalism: a separation of people into
competing, adversarial, and self-serving
groups, usually in government
referendum: a popular vote on legislation,
brought before the people by their elected
leaders or public initiative
■ ■ ■  
constitutional republic: a system of
government marked by both a supreme
written constitution and elected officials
who administer the powers of government
Hombori Tondo
3,789 ft.
1155 m.
S
A
H
E
L
S
A
H
A
R
A
 
 
 
D
E
S
E
R
T
Adrar des
Iforas
E r g
   C
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c h
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B
a
o
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lé
Bani
S
é
n
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San
Tessalit
Ménaka
Ansongo
Bourem
Nioro du Sahel
Lemoïlé
Ayoûn el'  Atroûs
Chinguetti
Oualâta
Kita
Sikasso
Koutiala
Bafoulabé
Taoudenni
Kidal
Ti-n-Zaouâtene
Tombouctou
Bandiagara
Douna
Koulikoro
Bougouni
Kati
Niono
Diadé
Médala
Goundam
Niafounké
Araouane
Tillia
Hombori
Gao
Kayes
Djénné
Mopti
Ségou
Bamako
A L G E R I A
B U R K I N A
F A S O
G U I N E A
CÔTE D'IVOIRE
G H A N A
SENEGAL
M A U R I T A N I A
N I G E R
Mali
W
S
N
E
MALI
300 Miles
0
0
300 Kilometers
200
100
200
100
(MAP BY MARYLAND CARTOGRAPHICS/ THE GALE GROUP)

Citizens are free and encouraged to participate in the political process at all
levels. Freedoms of expression, organization, religion, and the press are granted
in the constitution and widely respected.
See also: 
Civil Law.
B I B L I O G R A P H Y
Bingen, R. James, et al, eds. Democracy and Development in Mali. East Lansing:
Michigan State University Press, 2000.
Imperato, Pascal James. Historical Dictionary of Mali, 3rd ed. African Historical
Dictionaries, No. 11. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996.
Smith, Zeric Kay. “Mali’s Decade of Democracy.” Journal of Democracy 12, no. 3 ( July
2001):73–79.
Zeric Kay Smith 
Malta
Malta is a semiarid limestone archipelago of three inhabited islands (Malta,
Gozo, and Comino) strategically located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea,
100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Sicily and 140 kilometers (87 miles) east of
Tunis. With a 2004 population of 400,000 on a land area of just 316 square kilo-
meters (122 square miles), the islands are the second most densely populated
state in the world, after Singapore. The Maltese are a mixed stock of Southern
European, North African, and other Mediterranean ethnicities.
Given its location and excellent harbors, the Maltese Islands have been a
tempting prize to all would-be Mediterranean empire builders. Carthaginians,
Romans, Arabs, Normans, Angevins, Aragonese, and Castellans followed each
other as rulers over Malta for sixteen centuries. In 1530, the islands were passed
over by Charles V (1500–1558) of Spain to the Knights Hospitaller Order of Saint
John. Malta was then run by a 
theocracy
until 1798, when the islands were invad-
ed by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821). The French ran Malta until 1800 at
which time the British intervened. In 1814 the islands were formally 
ceded
to
Britain by the Treaty of Amiens.
The constitution is the highest law of the land. Malta was granted its first
constitution in 1835 and a self-governing constitution in 1921; it became an
independent sovereign state on September 21, 1964. The Independence
Constitution, which recognized Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926) of the United
Kingdom as head of state, was amended effective December 13, 1974 with the
enactment of a republican constitution, which made the president the formal
head of state and gave executive power to the prime minister.
A division of powers is respected in principle. However, only two political
parties have been represented in a unicameral legislature since the 1971 elections:
the Malta Labour Party on the democratic socialist left and the Nationalist Party on
the socialist democratic–Christian right. Because the opposition has been from
just one to five seats shy of the government since the 1970s, strong internal party
discipline has been crucial; thus the parliament almost always endorses govern-
ment policy. The judiciary is independent but slow in its operations.
Public life is strongly dominated by the Roman Catholic Church: Malta is
the only European country that has not legalized either divorce or abortion.
128