Legislative Council of Brunei

Legislative Council of Brunei

*Majlis Mesyuarat Negara Brunei*

مجليس مشوارت نڬارا بروني
Legislative Council of Brunei ; Majlis Mesyuarat Negara Brunei; مجليس مشوارت نڬارا بروني
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	; since 11 February 2015
Structure
Seats	33
Length of term	5 years
Meeting place
	Legislative Council Building, ; Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Website
	Legislative Council of Brunei

Legislative Council of Brunei building

The Legislative Council of Brunei (Malay: Majlis Mesyuarat Negara Brunei (مجليس مشوارت نڬارا بروني)) or the "Legco" is a national unicameral legislature of Brunei. The Council holds its sitting annually in March at Legislative Council Building in Bandar Seri Begawan.

History[]

The Council was established in 1959 by virtue of Article 23 of Brunei's Constitution of 1959. Its first sitting was held at Lapau on 21 October 1959. In 1984, the Council managed to hold 32 meetings; the last one being the 21st Meeting held on 12 February 1984. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah dissolved the Council on the following day. Hence, legislative powers were fully vested in the Sultan.

Brunei had no legislature until 25 September 2004, when the Sultan decided to reinstate the Council using the old system. Brunei, once again, had a legislature. The Sultan disestablished the Council on 1 September 2005 and, on the following day, reestablished the Council based on the amended version of Brunei's Constitution.

Roles[]

Since 1959, the Council has played significant roles towards Brunei; not only to consider and approve budgets and revenue estimates, but also to advise the Sultan on the drive of the Government, to review policies implemented by the Government and to pass bills and motions brought by the Government and other members of the Council.

Speakers of Legislative Council[]

Yang Di-Pertua Majlis Mesyuarat Negara	Term in Office
Ibrahim Mohammad Jahfar	1960-1961
Ali bin Mohammad Daud	1961-1962
Abu Bakar bin Mohammad Salleh	1962-1971
Mohammad Alam Abdul Rahman	1971-1974
	1974-1981
Kemaluddin al-Haj	1981-1984, 2004-2011
Isa Ibrahim^[2]	2011-2015
Abdul Rahman Mohamed Taib^[3]	2015–present

Membership[]

The Council comprises the Sultan, the Crown Prince,^[4] cabinet ministers and three types of members: members with titles, members representing districts, and members among outstanding Bruneians. All members, other than the Sultan, are appointed by the Sultan in accordance with Article 24 of Brunei Constitution.

Appointed Members of 2017 Sitting[]

The subsequent list as below are returning members of LegCo appointed by Sultan on 12 January 2017 as announced in Pelita Brunei,^[5]^[6] except members of cabinet who are appointed on January 2018.

Cabinet[]

Since 30 January 2018 (reshuffle after 3 years since October 2015), the Council consists of the following:^[7]


Ministry	Minister
Prime Minister's Office	HM Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (Prime Minister) HRH Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah (Senior Minister) Hon. (Minister and His Majesty's Special Advisor) Hon. Abdul Mokti Mohd. Daud (Minister)
Ministry of Transport and Infocommunications	Hon. Abdul Mutalib Md. Yusof
Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports	Hon. Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) Aminuddin Abidin
Ministry of Defence	HM Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Hon. Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) Halbi Mohd. Yussof (Second Minister)
Ministry of Development	Hon. Suhaimi Gafar
Ministry of Education	Hon. Hamzah Sulaiman
Ministry of Energy	Hon. Dr. Mat Suny Mohd Hussein
Ministry of Finance and Economy	HM Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Hon. Dr. Mohd. Amin Liew Abdullah (Second Minister)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade	HM Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Hon. (Second Minister)
Ministry of Health	Hon. Dr. Md. Isham Jaafar
Ministry of Home Affairs	Hon.
Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism	Hon. Ali Apong
Ministry of Religious Affairs	Hon. Awang Badaruddin Awang Othman

Clergy and Titled Seats[]

Title	Appointed Members	Notes
Pehin Datu Imam Dato Paduka Seri Setia Ustaz Haji Awang	Abdul Hamid bin Bakal	Religious Manteri below Manteri 8^[8]
Pehin Orang Kaya Putera Maharaja Dato Paduka Awang Haji bin Pehin Datu Pekerma Dewa Dato Paduka Awang Haji	Abdul Ghani bin Abdul Rahim	Manteri 32^[9]
Pehin Orang Kaya Pendikar Alam Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji bin Pehin Datu Pekerma Dewa Dato Paduka Awang Haji	Hasrin bin Sabtu	Manteri 32^[10]

Functional Seats[]

Pursuant to Second Schedule of Article 24 (1) (a) (iii),^[11] these seats given for persons who have achieved distinction on their own professional field or good contribution for communities accross Brunei

Returning member	Notes
Hafimi binti Abdul Haadii
Abdul Hamid "Haji Sabli" bin Arshad
Iswandy bin Ahmad
Khairunnisa binti Ash'ari

Siti Rozaimeriyanty binti Abdul Rahman
Umarali bin Esung

District Seats[]

Districts	Returning member	Notes
Belait 1	Abdul Hamid bin Mumin	Previously worked as penghulu of Liang
Belait 2	Hanapi bin Mohd Siput	Previously worked as village head of Kampung Labi I
Tutong 1	Abdul Wahab bin Apong	Previously worked as penghulu of Cape of Maya
Tutong 2	Ramli bin Lahit	Previously worked as penghulu of Telisai
Temburong	Emran bin Sabtu	Previously worked as penghulu of Bokok
Brunei-Muara 1	Ali bin Maon	Previously worked as penghulu of Berakas 'B'
Brunei-Muara 2	Mohammed bin Osman/Othman	Previously worked as village head of Muara and Sabun before appointed as MP
Brunei-Muara 3	Naim bin Kamis	Previously worked as penghulu of Kota Batu
Brunei-Muara 4	Tahamit bin Nudin	Previously worked as penghulu of Gadong 'A'
Brunei-Muara 5	Mohimin bin Johari	Previously worked as village head of Sweet Limau

Legislative procedure[]

The Council follows the practice of other Commonwealth parliaments. All bills presented in the Council go through three readings. All bills, however, must obtain prior approval from the Cabinet prior to their presentation in the Council. Once a bill is passed, a bill must obtain Royal Assent in order to turn such bill to an Act.

References[]

^ https://data.ipu.org/content/brunei-darussalam?chamber_id=13582
^ Md Zain, Nurliah (2 March 2016). "MMN wadah permuafakatan" (in Malay). Bandar Seri Begawan: . Retrieved 9 September 2021.
^ http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2398_A.htm
^ He is a member of Cabinet of Brunei. Therefore, he is a member of the Council.
^ "Pelantikan keahlian Majlis Mesyuarat Negara baharu" [New members' appointment of Legislative Council] (in Malay). Bandar Seri Begawan: . 12 January 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
^ "THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL" (in Malay). Legislative Council of Brunei. 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
^ "Pelantikan Menteri-Menteri Kabinet Baharu" (PDF). (in Malay). Bandar Seri Begawan: Department of Information. 31 January 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
^ Senarai Nama-Nama Gelaran dan Orang-Orang yang Dikurniai Gelaran: Manteri-Manteri Berchiri (PDF). Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Adat Istiadat Negara. 8 March 2021. p. 4.
^ Senarai Nama-Nama Gelaran dan Orang-Orang yang Dikurniai Gelaran: Manteri-Manteri Berchiri (PDF). Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Adat Istiadat Negara. 8 March 2021. p. 10.
^ Senarai Nama-Nama Gelaran dan Orang-Orang yang Dikurniai Gelaran: Manteri-Manteri Berchiri (PDF). Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Adat Istiadat Negara. 8 March 2021. p. 8.
^ [1]

Coordinates: 4°54′47″N 114°56′55″E / 4.913159°N 114.948497°E / 4.913159; 114.948497

[1] ttps://data.ipu.org/content/brunei-darussalam?chamber_id=13582

[2] Md Zain, Nurliah (2 March 2016). "MMN wadah permuafakatan" (in Malay). Bandar Seri Begawan: . Retrieved 9 September 2021.

[3] ttp://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2398_A.htm

[4] He is a member of Cabinet of Brunei. Therefore, he is a member of the Council.

[5] "Pelantikan keahlian Majlis Mesyuarat Negara baharu" [New members' appointment of Legislative Council] (in Malay). Bandar Seri Begawan: . 12 January 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2021.

[6] "THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL" (in Malay). Legislative Council of Brunei. 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.

[7] "Pelantikan Menteri-Menteri Kabinet Baharu" (PDF). (in Malay). Bandar Seri Begawan: Department of Information. 31 January 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 9 September 2021.

[8] Senarai Nama-Nama Gelaran dan Orang-Orang yang Dikurniai Gelaran: Manteri-Manteri Berchiri (PDF). Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Adat Istiadat Negara. 8 March 2021. p. 4.

[9] Senarai Nama-Nama Gelaran dan Orang-Orang yang Dikurniai Gelaran: Manteri-Manteri Berchiri (PDF). Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Adat Istiadat Negara. 8 March 2021. p. 10.

[10] Senarai Nama-Nama Gelaran dan Orang-Orang yang Dikurniai Gelaran: Manteri-Manteri Berchiri (PDF). Bandar Seri Begawan: Jabatan Adat Istiadat Negara. 8 March 2021. p. 8.

[11] [1]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

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[11]

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