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ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF ASIAN PARLIAMENTS This handbook showcases the rich varieties of legislatures that exist in Asia and explains how political power is constituted in 17 jurisdictions in East, Southeast and South Asia. Legislatures in Asia come in all stripes. Liberal democracies co-exist cheek by jowl with autocracies; semi-democratic and competitive authoritarian systems abound. While all legislatures exist to make law and confer legitimacy on the political leadership, how represen- tative they are of the people they govern differs dramatically across the continent, such that it is impossible to identify a common Asian prototype. Divided into thematic and country- by-country sections, this handbook is a one-stop reference that surveys the range of political systems operating in Asia. Each jurisdiction chapter examines the structure and composition of its legislature, the powers of the legislature, the legislative process, thereby providing a clear picture of how each legislature operates both in theory and in practice. The book also themat- ically analyses the following political systems operating in Asia: communist regimes, liberal democracies, dominant party democracies, turbulent democracies, presidential democracies, military regimes and protean authoritarian rule. This handbook is a vital and comprehensive resource for scholars of constitutional law and politics in Asia. Po Jen Yap is a Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong, where he specialises in Constitutional and Administrative Law. Rehan Abeyratne is an Associate Professor of Law at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he specialises in constitutional law and comparative constitutionalism. Routledge International Handbooks The Routledge International Handbook of New Critical Race and Whiteness Studies Edited by Rikke Andreassen, Catrin Lundström, Suvi Keskinen, Shirley Anne Tate. Routledge Handbook of Asian Parliaments Edited by Po Jen Yap and Rehan Abeyratne The Routledge International Handbook of Children’s Rights and Disability Edited by Angharad E. Beckett and Anne-Marie Callus ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF ASIAN PARLIAMENTS Edited by Po Jen Yap and Rehan Abeyratne Designed cover image: iStock/Buddhika_Jayawardana First published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Po Jen Yap and Rehan Abeyratne; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Po Jen Yap and Rehan Abeyratne to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 9780367624231 (hbk) ISBN: 9780367624286 (pbk) ISBN: 9781003109402 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003109402 Typeset in Bembo by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. CONTENTS Contributors vii 1 Parliaments in Asia: Introduction 1 Po Jen Yap and Rehan Abeyratne PART I Thematic Chapters 13 2 Communist regimes 15 Po Jen Yap and Chen Yu-Jie 3 Liberal democracies 31 Chien-Chih Lin 4 Dominant party democracies 46 Po Jen Yap and Marcus Teo 5 Turbulent democracies 58 Rehan Abeyratne 6 Presidential democracies 82 Björn Dressel and Fakhridho Susilo PART II Jurisdiction Chapters 101 7 The Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) of Bangladesh 103 M Jashim Ali Chowdhury v Contents 8 The National Assembly and Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia 125 Benjamin Lawrence 9 The National People’s Congress in China 143 Sun Ying 10 The Legislative Council of Hong Kong 158 Eric Chan 11 The Parliament and State Legislatures of India 178 M Mohsin Alam Bhat 12 The Legislatures of Indonesia 202 Simon Butt and Tim Lindsey 13 The Japanese Diet 221 Shigenori Matsui 14 The Parliament of Malaysia 236 Wong Chin Huat 15 The Legislature (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) of Myanmar 251 Richard Roewer and Han Htoo Khant Paing 16 The Parliament of Pakistan 271 Mariam Mufti 17 The Congress of the Philippines 289 Bryan Dennis G Tiojanco and Ronald Ray K San Juan 18 The Parliament of Singapore 311 Eugene KB Tan 19 The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea 328 Sang-Un Park 20 The Parliament of Sri Lanka 345 Dinesha Samararatne 21 The Legislative Yuan of Taiwan 366 Yen-Tu Su 22 The Legislative Assembly of Thailand 384 Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang and Aua-aree Engchanil 23 The National Assembly of Vietnam 401 Ngoc Son Bui Index 417 vi CONTRIBUTORS Rehan Abeyratne is an Associate Professor of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong M Mohsin Alam Bhat is a Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, School of Law Ngoc Son Bui is Professor of Asian Laws, University of Oxford Faculty of Law Simon Butt is Professor of Indonesian Law, University of Sydney Law School Eric Chan is a Solicitor of the High Court of Hong Kong Chen Yu-Jie is an Assistant Research Professor, Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica M Jashim Ali Chowdhury is a Lecturer in Law, University of Hull Björn Dressel is an Associate Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australia National University Aua-aree Engchanil is an Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Chulalongkorn University Han Htoo Khant Paing is an MPP Graduate at the Blavatnik School of Government and an Independent Researcher Benjamin Lawrence is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore Chien-Chih Lin is an Associate Research Professor, Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica Tim Lindsey is Malcolm Smith Chair of Asian Law and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, Melbourne Law School vii Contributors Shigenori Matsui is a Professor at Peter A Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia Mariam Mufti is an Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo Sang-Un Park is a Researcher, the Institute of Social Sciences, Sogang University Richard Roewer is a Research Fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies and DPhil Candidate at the University of Oxford Dinesha Samararatne is a Senior Lecturer, Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo Ronald Ray K San Juan is a Director, Philippine Department of Finance (on secondment with Asian Development Bank as Director’s Advisor) Yen-Tu Su is a Research Professor, Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica Sun Ying is an Associate Professor, School of Law, Sun Yat-sen University Fakhridho Susilo is a PhD Student at the Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University Eugene KB Tan is an Associate Professor of Law, Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University Marcus Teo is a Sheridan Fellow at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore Bryan Dennis G Tiojanco is a Project Associate Professor of Transnational Law, University of Tokyo Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University Wong Chin Huat is a Professor and Deputy Head (Strategy), UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Asia Headquarters, Sunway University Malaysia Po Jen Yap is a Professor of Law, University of Hong Kong viii 1 PARLIAMENTS IN ASIA Introduction Po Jen Yap and Rehan Abeyratne Legislatures in Asia come in all stripes. Liberal democracies co-exist cheek by jowl with autocracies1; semi-democratic and competitive authoritarian systems abound. While all legislatures exist to make law and confer legitimacy on the political leadership, how represen- tative they are of the people they govern differ dramatically across the continent, such that it is impossible to identify a common Asian characteristic.2 The purpose of this Handbook is to showcase the rich varieties that exist in Asia and explain how political power is constituted in each jurisdiction. Furthermore, alongside detailed jur- isdictional studies of 17 countries and regions, we also provide a taxonomy to explain the diverse regime types in Asia. These regime types are as follows: communist regimes, dominant party democracies, liberal democracies, presidential democracies, turbulent democracies, military regimes, and protean authoritarian rule. And we explain how the jurisdiction’s regime type impacts its government’s performance and legitimacy. 1.1 Communist regimes Sun Ying’s fine-grained examination of the National People’s Congress in China and Ngoc Son Bui’s lucid analysis of the National Assembly of Vietnam have allowed us to identify sev- eral common key characteristics that define communist regimes in Asia. First, the Communist Party is the centrepiece of the State’s political life. For China, the leadership of the Communist Party of China is the ‘most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics’.3 In Vietnam, its Communist Party is the ‘leading force of the State and society’.4 In essence, the Communist Party is the country’s living constitution. Second, lawmakers to both the Chinese and Vietnamese legislatures are not elected by a genuine universal franchise. Deputies to China’s National People’s Congress are ‘elected’ by the deputies in the provincial congresses.5 Vietnam allows the people to directly vote for national parliamentarians,6 but candidates who are eligible to run are pre-vetted by the Communist Party,7 such that party members have always occupied over 90% of the seats in the national legislature. Third, the constitutional review of legislation is formally exercised not by the courts, but by the national legislature. For China, this power is exercised by the Standing Committee of the NPC (NPCSC).8 In Vietnam, both the NPC and its Standing Committee have this power.9 DOI: 10.4324/9781003109402-1 1