2. Political Setting:
Brunei
• Brunei is a sultanate governed
under a constitution
promulgated in 1959, and
amended in 1984 when Brunei
achieved independence. Under
the constitution, executive
authority is held by the sultan of
3. Political Setting:
Brunei
Brunei, a hereditary position.
Advised by a Council of
Ministers, the sultan has ruled
by decree since 1962. The
constitution calls for a Legislative
Council to review legislation, but
Brunei went without this body
4. Political Setting:
Brunei
from 1984 until 2004. Brunei is a
member of the United Nations
(UN), the Commonwealth of
Nations, and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN).
5. Political Setting:
Brunei
Likely settled by the 8th century,
Brunei became a dependency of
the Javanese kingdom of
Majapahit in the 14th century.
An independent Islamic
sultanate was established in the
15th century as Majapahit broke
6. Political Setting:
Brunei
apart. By the 16th century the
sultan of Brunei controlled most
of Borneo’s north coast and
some parts of the Sulu
Archipelago in the Philippines.
Brunei’s wealth was based on
trade, notably with China and,
8. Political Setting:
Brunei
The Brunei sultanate maintained
its territorial expanse until the
19th century, when it began
tottering under the combined
attack of pirates from without
and enemies within. In 1841 the
sultan of Brunei, Omar Ali
9. Political Setting:
Brunei
Saifuddin II, granted much of the
territory of Sarawak to British
army officer James Brooke in
gratitude for aid in putting down
an insurrection in the southwest.
Brooke assumed the title of raja,
and periodically thereafter the
10. Political Setting:
Brunei
dynasty of the “white rajas”
secured further territory from
Brunei until Sarawak surrounded
it, and Brunei was reduced to its
present size.
11. Political Setting:
Brunei
In about 1849 the British,
seeking to protect commerce
between Singapore and
northwest Borneo, started
operations against the pirate
fleets and destroyed them within
five years. In 1888 Brunei
12. Political Setting:
Brunei
became a British protectorate. In
1906 the administration of the
sultanate of Brunei was placed in
the hands of a British resident,
although the sultan remained in
nominal authority. In 1959 the
sultan, Omar Ali Saifuddin III,
13. Political Setting:
Brunei
promulgated the first written
constitution. Invited to join the
Federation of Malaysia in 1963,
Brunei was the only Malay state
that elected to remain a British
dependency. In January 1979,
the British government signed a
14. Political Setting:
Brunei
new treaty with the sultan,
Muda Hassanal Bolkiah, and
Brunei became an independent
sovereign country on January 1,
1984.
15. Political Setting:
Brunei
Muda espoused a state ideology
called Malay Islamic Monarchy,
which emphasized the
uniqueness of Brunei’s Islamic
culture and presented the sultan
as the defender of the faith in
Brunei. In August 1998 Muda
16. Political Setting:
Brunei
confirmed his son as his
eventual successor. In 2004 the
sultan reappointed a Legislative
Council to review legislation,
viewed as a move toward
greater democracy.
23. Republic of the Philippines
CAPIZ STATE UNIVERSITY
Dumarao Satellite College, Dumarao, Capiz
Theme: “Understanding Better the Political, Economic &
Socio-Cultural Setting of Southeast Asian Nations for
Peace, Prosperity & People”
March 09, 2015 (8:00-11:30 am)
Campus Library