Federal-State Relations in Malaysia-Expedient and the Necessary

Expedient and the Necessary Vejai Balasubramaniam THE El Nino phenomenon to which the current water crisis affecting Malaysia and the suburb's of its capital, Kuala Lumpur, is attributed, indicates that the major challenge facing the Malaysian state1 (i e. the political elites in control of the federal government) in its drive to modernise (read industrialise) the country, comes not from the established opposition in the Dewan Rakyat (the lower house of parliament) but from the respective State governments. A federalist state by its structure provides State governments to challenge the authority of the federal government. As a country comprising two federalism', the ability of the state governments to resist the authority of the federal government in Kuala Lumpur varies.