brunei: political setting
TRANSCRIPT
Political Setting:
Brunei
• Brunei is a sultanate governedunder a constitutionpromulgated in 1959, andamended in 1984 when Bruneiachieved independence. Underthe constitution, executiveauthority is held by the sultan of
Political Setting:
Brunei
Brunei, a hereditary position.Advised by a Council ofMinisters, the sultan has ruledby decree since 1962. Theconstitution calls for a LegislativeCouncil to review legislation, butBrunei went without this body
Political Setting:
Brunei
from 1984 until 2004. Brunei is amember of the United Nations(UN), the Commonwealth ofNations, and the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations(ASEAN).
Political Setting:
Brunei
Likely settled by the 8th century,Brunei became a dependency ofthe Javanese kingdom ofMajapahit in the 14th century.An independent Islamicsultanate was established in the15th century as Majapahit broke
Political Setting:
Brunei
apart. By the 16th century thesultan of Brunei controlled mostof Borneo’s north coast andsome parts of the SuluArchipelago in the Philippines.Brunei’s wealth was based ontrade, notably with China and,
Political Setting:
Brunei
after a 1521 visit by Spanishnavigator Juan Sebastián delCano, with European merchants.
Political Setting:
Brunei
The Brunei sultanate maintainedits territorial expanse until the19th century, when it begantottering under the combinedattack of pirates from withoutand enemies within. In 1841 thesultan of Brunei, Omar Ali
Political Setting:
Brunei
Saifuddin II, granted much of theterritory of Sarawak to Britisharmy officer James Brooke ingratitude for aid in putting downan insurrection in the southwest.Brooke assumed the title of raja,and periodically thereafter the
Political Setting:
Brunei
dynasty of the “white rajas”secured further territory fromBrunei until Sarawak surroundedit, and Brunei was reduced to itspresent size.
Political Setting:
Brunei
In about 1849 the British,seeking to protect commercebetween Singapore andnorthwest Borneo, startedoperations against the piratefleets and destroyed them withinfive years. In 1888 Brunei
Political Setting:
Brunei
became a British protectorate. In1906 the administration of thesultanate of Brunei was placed inthe hands of a British resident,although the sultan remained innominal authority. In 1959 thesultan, Omar Ali Saifuddin III,
Political Setting:
Brunei
promulgated the first writtenconstitution. Invited to join theFederation of Malaysia in 1963,Brunei was the only Malay statethat elected to remain a Britishdependency. In January 1979,the British government signed a
Political Setting:
Brunei
new treaty with the sultan,Muda Hassanal Bolkiah, andBrunei became an independentsovereign country on January 1,1984.
Political Setting:
Brunei
Muda espoused a state ideologycalled Malay Islamic Monarchy,which emphasized theuniqueness of Brunei’s Islamicculture and presented the sultanas the defender of the faith inBrunei. In August 1998 Muda
Political Setting:
Brunei
confirmed his son as hiseventual successor. In 2004 thesultan reappointed a LegislativeCouncil to review legislation,viewed as a move towardgreater democracy.
Political Setting:
Brunei
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