Brunei Darussalam: Towards a New Era

Summary

The year 2006 was marked by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah's 60 th birthday celebrations, which were attended by many foreign dignitaries. Special events took place nationwide, with people flocking to meet the sultan personally in all the four districts he visited as part of the celebrations. This birthday marked the coming of age of a popular sultan and of his country that has remained free of public political agitation of a kind that is rampant through much of the region. The sultanate of Brunei remained fairly quiet with a population that is contented, even docile, and peaceful. 2006 was also a year that witnessed considerable progress in the political and economic arena, raising people's expectations for stability and prosperity for many more years to come.

Political Development

A significant development since independence in 1984 was the reintroduction of the Legislative Council in 2004. Although the Council as it has been envisaged could not lay claim to bold democratic experiments, nor stood comparison to the inaugural one created under the 1959 Constitution, the very act of resurrecting it after a lapse of more than two decades received warm approbation from a majority of the population. The original semi-elected council was stillborn following the outbreak of an abortive rebellion in 1962. Although reintroduced in 1965 due to British manipulations at the time as Britain was still responsible for the internal and external affairs of the country, it did not evolve further on the path of becoming a fully representative democratic parliament. Instead, the Council operated under a restrained mandate as the Sultan appointed all its members. Moreover, with the achievement of full independence in 1984, the Council was dissolved and replaced by a cabinet of ministers appointed and headed by His Majesty the Sultan himself.

The plan to reintroduce the current Legislative Council began in the mid-1990s in tandem with the re-evaluation of the constitution.