The Dewan Negara (; Jawi: ) is the upper house of the Parliament of Malaysia, consisting of 70 senators of whom 26 are elected by the state legislative assemblies, with two senators for each state, while the other 44 are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia), including four who are appointed to represent the federal territories.
The Dewan Negara usually reviews legislation that has been passed by the lower house, the Dewan Rakyat. All bills must usually be passed by both the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara (the Senate), before they are sent to the Agong for royal assent. However, if the Dewan Negara rejects a bill, it can only delay the bill's passage by a maximum of a year before it is sent to the King, a restriction similar to that placed on the House of Lords in the United Kingdom. Like the Dewan Rakyat, the Dewan Negara meets at the Malaysian Houses of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur.
Originally, the Dewan Negara was meant to act as a check on the Dewan Rakyat and represent the interests of the various states, based on the role played by its counterpart in the United States. However, the original constitution, which provided for a majority of state-elected senators, has since been modified to make the vast majority of senators instead appointed by the Agong, thus theoretically providing an avenue for a relatively non-partisan reconsideration of bills, more similar to the role of the British House of Lords.
Membership
Members of the Dewan Negara are referred to as "Senators" in English or "Ahli Dewan Negara" () in Malay and are accorded the honorific style of Yang Berhormat Senator. The term of office is three years and senators may only be re-appointed once, consecutively or non-consecutively.
Each of the 13 state legislative assemblies chooses two senators. The King of Malaysia appoints two senators for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, and one respectively for the Federal Territories of Labuan and Putrajaya, all these at-large appointments on the advice of the prime minister.
Another 40 senators, regardless of their states, are appointed by the King, also on the prime minister's advice. Federally appointed senators must have "rendered distinguished public service or have achieved distinction in the professions, commerce, industry, agriculture, cultural activities or social service or are representative of racial minorities or are capable of representing the interests of aborigines (Orang Asli)". Two senators are appointed to represent the Orang Asli, and two others to represent Malaysian Siamese. The original drafters envisioned the number of central appointees decreasing, perhaps to none, rather than increasing. In practice, the Senate rarely debates, let alone rejects, bills passed by the lower house. As of 2024, the power given to the Parliament under Clause (4) of Article 45 was never invoked and the senators remain indirectly elected.
Senators can be appointed to ministerial posts in the Cabinet by the King on the advice of the prime minister. However, the Dewan Negara never supplies the prime minister, as the prime minister must be a member of the Dewan Rakyat.
The Dewan Negara is not affected by the elections for the Dewan Rakyat, and senators continue to hold office despite the Dewan Rakyat's dissolution for an election. Should the president be absent, his deputy, the vice president, takes his place.
There are constitution provisions to increase state representation to 3 senators each, and for such senators to be directly elected. However, there has not been any political movement towards these.
Although members of Parliament typically have legal immunity when it comes to freedom of discussion, a gag rule forbids discussion about certain articles of the Constitution such as the status of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language and Bumiputra privileges in Article 153.
Current composition
As of June 2023, the Dewan Negara has 63 senators, most of them are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.