Leader of the Opposition (Malaysia)

In the Dewan Rakyat, the Leader of the Opposition sits at the front table to the left of the Speaker's Chair (on the right-hand side in this photo).

See also: Opposition (Malaysia)

The Leader of the Opposition in Malaysian Federal Politics is a Member of Parliament in the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives). By convention, the position is held by the leader of the political party not in government that has the most seats in the House. When in parliament, the Leader of the Opposition sits on the left-hand side of the centre table, in front of the Opposition and opposite the Prime Minister. The Opposition Leader is elected by the minority party of the House according to its rules. A new Opposition Leader may be elected when the incumbent dies, resigns, or is challenged for the leadership.

Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system and is based on the Westminster model. The Opposition is an important component of the Westminster system, with the Opposition directing criticism at the Government's policies and programs, give close attention to all proposed legislation and attempts to defeat and replace the Government. The Opposition is therefore known as the 'government in waiting' and it is a formal part of the parliamentary system. Due to the domination of the Barisan Nasional (and its predecessor, the Alliance) coalition of the parliament since independence, this perception is generally not acknowledged by Malaysians, though since the 2008 elections, Anwar Ibrahim has declared that the Opposition is the 'government in waiting'. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration, majority party or coalition in parliament or the cabinet, rather than the state.

To date there have been 10 Opposition Leaders, none of whom have served terms as Prime Minister. The current Leader of the Opposition is Wan Azizah Wan Ismail of the People's Justice Party, following an election of the new Parliamentary PKR Leader by caucus and other minority party's MPs on 18 May 2015.

Leaders of the Opposition

№	Leader of the Opposition			Term office		Prime Minister		Ref
	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Political Party	Took office	Left office
1	100px	Burhanuddin al-Helmy (1911–1969) MP for Besut	PMIP	19 August 1959	1 March 1964		Tunku Abdul Rahman
2	100px	Tan Chee Khoon (1919–1996) MP for Batu	SF (LPM)	21 March 1964	20 March 1969
Vacant (20 March 1969 — 23 February 1971)
							Abdul Razak Hussein
3		Mohamed Asri Muda (1923–1992) MP for Pasir Puteh	PAS	23 February 1971	17 April 1973
4		Lim Kit Siang (born 1941) MP for Bandar Malacca	DAP	17 April 1973	31 July 1974
5		James Wong (1922–2011) MP for Miri-Lubis	SNAP	24 August 1974	30 October 1974
6		Edmund Langgu Saga (born 1936) MP for Saratok	SNAP	4 November 1974	4 November 1975
(4)		Lim Kit Siang (born 1941) MP for Kota Melaka (1975-1978) MP for Petaling (1978–1982) MP for Kota Melaka (1982-1986) MP for Tanjong (1986–1999)	DAP	4 November 1975	8 July 1978
							Hussein Onn
				31 July 1978	29 March 1982
							Mahathir Mohamad
				10 July 1982	19 July 1986
				8 October 1986	4 October 1990
				21 October 1990	6 April 1995
				25 April 1995	10 November 1999
7		Fadzil Noor (1937–2002) MP for Pendang	PAS	29 November 1999	23 July 2002
8		Abdul Hadi Awang (born 1947) MP for Marang	PAS	23 July 2002	2 March 2004
							Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
(4)		Lim Kit Siang (born 1941) MP for Ipoh Timor	DAP	21 March 2004	13 February 2008
9		Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (born 1952) MP for Permatang Pauh	PKR	8 March 2008	28 August 2008
10		Anwar Ibrahim (born 1947) MP for Permatang Pauh	PKR	28 August 2008	3 April 2013
							Najib Razak
				6 May 2013	16 March 2015
Vacant (16 March 2015 — 18 May 2015)
(9)		Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (born 1952) MP for Permatang Pauh	PKR	18 May 2015	16 June 2015
				16 June 2015	Incumbent