Political parties are a key component of liberal democracy. The policies they espouse ‐ if they are in power, the legislations they introduce – have direct effects on the lives of Malaysian. That is why Malaysia’s Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (www.IDEAS.org.my) decided to make engagements with political parties a key part of their work in 2010.

Realising that many organisations are already working with political parties at national level, IDEAS took a slightly different approach. They chose instead to focus on politicians at state level, aiming to train them on issues around state-federal relationships according to the Malaysian Constitution.

With support from Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty, IDEAS have so far conducted three workshops in Kuching (12 June 2010), Sibu (13 June 2010) and Penang (20 June 2010). All the workshops were well attended, with more than 100 state level politicians having attended so far.

The trainers from IDEAS are experienced lawyers, led by Edmund Bon and K Shanmuga.

All workshops take a similar format, although the discussions are tailored to the context of the particular state. The main focus is to examine the content of the Malaysian Federal Constitution vis a vis the rights of states in the Federation.

In a typical workshop, the day is divided into four sessions covering:

• Session 1: Definition, examples from other countries, key components of federal system, why decentralisation
• Session 2: Historical overview and key components of Malaysian Constitution
• Session 3: Special privileges of Sabah and Sarawak
• Session 4: Interactive session / group debates

Participants play an active role in the workshops to debate and discuss issues raised by the trainers. The two workshops in Kuching and Sibu were particularly good, with participants sometimes taking part in heated discussions about how the concept of federalism has been ignored by the federal government, and what actions are needed to revived the true spirit behind the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.

IDEAS will be conducting more similar workshops this year for politicians in other states according to the following schedule:

For further information about IDEAS’ efforts to revive federalism in Malaysia, please email Afif Abdullah ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )