1.
Hassanal Bolkiah
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Hassanal Bolkiah, GCB GCMG is the 29th and current Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei. He is also the first and incumbent Prime Minister of Brunei, the eldest son of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III and Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Damit, he succeeded to the throne as the Sultan of Brunei, following the abdication of his father on 4 October 1967. The Sultan has been ranked among the wealthiest individuals in the world, the Sultan was born on 15 July 1946 in Brunei Town as Pengiran Muda Hassanal Bolkiah. The Sultan received high school education at Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur, after which he attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom and he became the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam on 5 October 1967, after his father abdicated. His coronation was held on 1 August 1968, and made him the Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei, like his father, he has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, of which Brunei was a protectorate until 1984. Under Bruneis 1959 constitution, the Sultan is the head of state with full executive authority, on 9 March 2006, the Sultan was reported to have amended Bruneis constitution to make himself infallible under Bruneian law. Bolkiah, as Prime Minister, is also the head of government, in addition, he holds the portfolios both of Minister of Defense and Minister of Finance. He appointed himself as Inspector General of Police of the Royal Brunei Police Force, Bolkiah addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Brunei Darussalams admission to the United Nations in September 1984. In 1991, he introduced a conservative ideology to Brunei called Melayu Islam Beraja and he has recently favoured Brunei government democratisation and declared himself Prime Minister and President. In 2004, the Legislative Council, which had been dissolved since 1962, was reopened and his designated successor is his eldest son, Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah. The Sultans official residence is the Istana Nurul Iman, with 1,788 rooms,257 bathrooms, parts of the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Finance are also located at the palace. The Crown Prince, who is the Senior Minister, works from offices at the Istana, hyatt Borneo Management Services and HM The Sultans flight maintain offices there. The University of Brunei Darussalam and Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University were established, Technical and vocational institutions were also built, such as the Brunei Technological University, Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College, and vocational schools. The religious Institute Tahfiz Al-Quran Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah was established, scholarships for study in the country and abroad were provided. The Royal Brunei Armed Forces were expanded with the establishment of three branches of the Royal Brunei Land Forces, Royal Brunei Navy and Royal Brunei Air Force. Medicines and medical treatment are free of charge to children, policemen and members of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces in hospitals and government clinics, there is one doctor per 949 patients. The life expectancy of the people and the population is 74.2 years for men and 77.3 years for women. Hassanal Bolkiah established the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation, in January 2013, the Royal College of General Practitioners created the honour of ‘Companion of the College’ to mark its 60th anniversary
2.
Legislative Council of Brunei
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The Legislative Council of Brunei is a national unicameral legislature of Brunei. The Counci holds its sitting annually in March at Legislative Council Building in Bandar Seri Begawan, the Council is established in 1959 by virtue of Article 23 of Bruneis 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 no legislature. The Sultan disestablished the Council on 1 September 2005 and, on the following day, the Council comprises the Sultan, the Crown Prince, 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, since 13 January 2017, the Council has 33 members, including 13 cabinet ministers. The Council follows the practice of other Commonwealth parliaments, all bills presented in the Council go through three readings. All bills, however, must obtain 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, politics of Brunei List of legislatures by country
3.
Bandar Seri Begawan
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Bandar Seri Begawan /ˌbɑːndə sᵻˌriː bᵻˈɡaʊ. ən/ or /ˌbæn-/ BAND-ə sə-REE bə-GOW-ən, formerly known as Brunei Town, is the capital and largest city of the Sultanate of Brunei. Bandar Seri Begawan has an population of 50,000, and including the whole Brunei-Muara District. The original name for city was Bandar Brunei or Brunei Town in English. In 1967, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III abdicated in favour of his eldest son, Hassanal Bolkiah, Omar was then made the defense minister and on 5 October 1970, the city was renamed to honor him. The word Begawan was also used for Bruneian monarchs who have abdicated, besides that, Seri Begawan was known as blessed one in Sanskrit. Seri comes from the honorific Sanskrit word श्री Sri, and Bandar comes from Persian via Indian languages, in Malay, the word bandar means town or a city. Human settlement in Brunei can be traced back as far as 6th and 7th century with Malay trading centre, in 1899, first oil well was drilled at Ayer Bekunchi near Kampung Kasat, Bandar Seri Begawan. Although the oil well was drilled as deep as 259 metres, oil exploration in Brunei later shifted to Seria and Belait District in 1924. Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Alam II established a new palace on the west bank in 1909 after been persuaded by the British, Mosque and government buildings was also built along the western shores in 1920. In the same year, the new settlement was declared as a new capital of Brunei, However, the city prosperity was almost ended when the city was captured by the Japanese in 1941, before been recaptured by the Allied forces in 1945. During the war, most infrastructure was destroyed by Japanese and Allied bombing, the British began reconstructing most of its possessions in Borneo at the end of 1945 with the restoration of the law and order and the reopening of schools. In 1950, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, upon his ascension to the throne, negotiated with the British for an increase in corporate taxes, growing from 10% to 30% in 1953. A M$1.2 million allotment to Brunei for war damages during the Japanese occupation increased from M$1 million in 1946 to M$100 million in 1952. A five-year development plan with a budget of M$100 million was also implemented in 1953, with infrastructure receiving the largest percentage. On 1 August 2007, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah gave consent for the expansion of the city from 12.87 km2 to 100.36 km2, Istana Nurul Iman is the seat of the Brunei government and is the largest residential palace in the world according to Guinness World Records. There are two prime minister offices in the city, one is located inside Istana Nurul Iman and another one is located at Jalan Kumbang Pasang. The city is administered by the Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Department, the city obtained city status in 1920. With an area of 100.36 square kilometres, the city is located in the most populous district of Brunei namely Brunei-Muara District
4.
Politics of Brunei
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The politics of Brunei take place in a framework of an absolute monarchy, where by the Sultan of Brunei is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government, Brunei has a Legislative Council with 36 appointed members, that only has consultative tasks. The Sultans role is enshrined in the philosophy known as Melayu Islam Beraja. The country has been under martial law since a rebellion occurred in the early 1960s and was put down by British troops from Singapore. The Sultan is the head of state and head of government in Brunei and he exercises absolute powers and full executive authority under the framework of the 1959 Constitution. The Sultan is advised by and presides over five councils, which he appoints, the five councils are the Privy Council, Council of Succession, Religious Council, Council of Ministers and the Legislative Council. According to the Constitution, the Privy Council advises the Sultan in matters concerning the exercise of authority of mercy, the council also advises the Sultan on the conferring of Malay customary ranks, titles and honours. It also performs functions such as proclaiming a succession of regency, members of the Privy Council include members of the royal family and senior government officials. The Council of Succession determines succession to the throne should that need arise, the order of succession is determined by the Constitution. The Religious Council, known in full as the Brunei Islamic Religious Council advises the Sultan on all matters pertaining to Islam, the body in charge of Islamic administration policy. Policies determined by the council are executed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, a Council of Ministers, or cabinet, which currently consists of nine members, perform the day-to-day administrative functions of government. Under the 1959 constitution there was an elected Legislative Council, but only one election has ever been held, soon after that election, the assembly was dissolved following the declaration of a state of emergency, which saw the banning of the Brunei Peoples Party. In 1970 the Council was changed to a body by decree of the Sultan. In 2004 the Sultan announced that for the parliament,15 of the 20 seats would be elected. However, no date for the election has been set, the Legislative Council currently consists of 20 appointed members, and has only consultative powers. The first is the system inherited from the British, similar to the found in India, Malaysia. It is based on the English common law, but with codification of a significant part of it, the common law legal system covers most of the laws in Brunei. The structure of the law courts in Brunei starts with the magistracy
5.
Term of office
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A term of office is the length of time a person serves in a particular elected office. In many jurisdictions there is a limit on how long terms of office may be before the officeholder must be subject to re-election. Some jurisdictions exercise term limits, setting a number of terms an individual may hold in a particular office. Being the origin of the Westminster system, aspects of the United Kingdoms system of government are replicated in other countries. The monarch serves as head of state until his or her death or abdication, in the United Kingdom Members of Parliament in the House of Commons are elected for the duration of the parliament. Following dissolution of the Parliament, an election is held which consists of simultaneous elections for all seats. For most MPs this means that their terms of office are identical to the duration of the Parliament, an MP elected in a by-election mid-way through a Parliament, regardless of how long they have occupied the seat, is not exempt from facing re-election at the next general election. The Septennial Act 1715 provided that a Parliament expired seven years after it had been summoned, prior to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 parliaments had no minimum duration. Parliaments could be dissolved early by the monarch at the Prime Ministers request, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 mandated that Parliaments should last their full five years. Early dissolution is possible, but under much more limited circumstances. Hereditary peers and life peers retain membership of the House of Lords for life, Lords Spiritual hold membership of the House of Lords until the end of their time as bishops, though a senior bishop may be made a life peer upon the end of their bishopric. The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are variations on the system of government used at Westminster, the office of the leader of the devolved administrations has no numeric term limit imposed upon it. However, in the case of the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government there are fixed terms for which the legislatures can sit and this is imposed at four years. Elections may be held before this time but only if no administration can be formed, offices of local government other regional elected officials follow similar rules to the national offices discussed above, with persons elected to fixed terms of a few years. Federal judges have different terms in office, however, the majority of the federal judiciary, Article III judges, such as those of the Supreme Court, courts of appeal, and federal district courts, serve for life. The terms of office for officials in state governments according to the provisions of state constitutions. The term for state governors is four years in all states but Vermont and New Hampshire, the National Conference of State Legislatures reported in January 2007 that among state legislatures,44 states had terms of office for the lower house of the state legislature at two years. Five had terms of office at four years,37 states had terms of office for the upper house of the state legislature at four years
