Written Output

(Brunei)

Submitted by:

Cordero, Maricris A.

Cataquis, Lenz Meret P.

Submitted to:

Ms. Lanifel Manalo

BRUNEI

It is formally called as Negara Brunei Darussalam (State Brunei of

Darussalam). It is considered as the Abode of Peace. The Capital of Brunei is
Bandar Seri Begawan. It located on the island of Borneo facing north to the South
China Sea. It is divided into two sectors surrounded by the Malaysian state of
Sarawak. The western segment is the larger of the two sectors and contains the
capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan. It is consists of a narrow coastal plain in the
north, which gives way to rugged hills in the south. The soils Brunei are deeply
weathered, highly leached and generally infertile. Richer alluvial soils are found
along the rivers and in some parts of the coastal floodplain, and these offer the best
agricultural potential. Nearly two-thirds of the population of Brunei is classified
officially as Malay including indigenous people namely the Dusun, Belait,
Kedayanand Murut. Chinese make up about one-fifth of the population. The official
language is MALAY. The population in Brunei ranges only to about 429,000 and has
the second-highest GNI per capita in Southeast Asia. Brunei is an Islamic
Monarchy and Islam is the state religion.
 BRUNEI COUNTRY PROFILE TIMELINE

YEAR EVENTS

15th century Islamic sultanate of Brunei nominally in

control of Borneo, including Sabah and
Sarawak states of Malaysia, and some
parts of the Sulu islands in the Philippines.

1521 Brunei visited by Spanish navigator Juan

Sebastian Del Cano.

1841 Sultan of Brunei Omar Ali Saifuddin II

rewards British army officer James Brooke
for helping to quell a civil war by granting
him control of Sarawak.

1846 Brunei reduced to its present size after

ceding the island of Labuan to Britain.
1849-54 British destroy Malay pirates operating
between Singapore and Borneo.

British rule

YEAR EVENTS

1888 Brunei becomes a British protectorate.

Brunei administered by a British resident,

1906 with the sultan having nominal authority

1929 Oil extraction begins.

1941-45 Japan occupies Brunei

1950 Omar Ali Saifuddin III inaugurated sultan

Sultan Omar introduces Brunei's first

1959 written constitution which enshrines Islam
as the state religion and keeps Britain in
charge of defense and foreign affairs.
 Rule by decree

YEAR EVENTS
- Legislative Council election results
1962 annulled after leftist Brunei People's Party,
which sought to remove the sultan from
power, won all 10 elected seats in the 21-
member council; sultan declares state of
emergency and rules by decree.

Brunei decides to remain a British

1963 dependency rather than join the
Federation of Malaysia.

Hassanal Bolkiah becomes sultan

1967 following the abdication of his father,
Sultan Omar, who nonetheless remains
chief adviser.

Independence

YEAR EVENTS

1984 Brunei becomes independent.

 Government legalizes the Brunei National
1985 Democratic Party (BNDP).
Brunei National Solidarity Party (BNSP)
1986 becomes legal; former Sultan Omar dies.

BNDP and BNSP banned.

1988

Sultan Bolkiah introduces ideology of

1990 Malay Muslim Monarchy.

Government allows BNSP to operate, but

1995 the party is targeted for harassment and
becomes inactive.

Sultan Bolkiah removes his younger

1998 brother, Prince Jefri Bolkiah, as chief of
Brunei Investment Agency over concerns
about his stewardship of agency; Sultan
Bolkiah's eldest son, Prince Al-Muhtadee
Billah, becomes heir apparent.
 Royal scandal

YEAR EVENTS
Brunei files civil suit against Prince Jefri
2000 Bolkiah for alleged misuse of state funds.
Case is settled out of court. Court
documents reveal that he spent $2.7 billion
on luxury goods over 10 years. Prince
agrees to return all assets allegedly taken
from state-owned investment agency.

Brunei says it will retrain up to 25% of the

2000 August workforce to diversify the economy away
from oil and to develop alternative
industries such as tourism.

Auction is held of more than 10,000 items

2001 belonging to Prince Jefri.

As chair of Association of South East

2001 November Asian Nations (Asean), Brunei hosts
body's 2001 summit. Leaders pledge to
cooperate in fighting terrorism but push
back launch date for Asian free trade area.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah reopens

2004 September parliament, 20 years after it was
disbanded. The new parliament has 21
appointed members. The sultan later
 amends the constitution to allow the direct
election of 15 members of the next
parliament, but no poll date is set.

Major cabinet reshuffle ushers in younger

2005 May faces and ministers with private sector
experience.

National Development Party registered as

2005 August political party.

Brunei, along with Indonesia and Malaysia,

2007 February signs a "Rainforest Declaration", agreeing
to conserve a large area of Borneo that is
home to rare species.

Former finance minister and Sultan's

2007 November brother, Prince Jefri Bolkiah, loses appeal
at Brunei's highest court and is ordered to
return property, cash and luxury goods
allegedly acquired through
misappropriated state funds.

Amnesty international criticizes Brunei's

2007 December corporal punishment laws. Reports say 68
foreigners were flogged in 2008 for
immigration offences. Immigration rules
were tightened in 2004 to prevent illegal
stay of migrant workers.
 UK judge issues warrant for the arrest of
2008 June Prince Jefri Bolkiah after he failed to
attend a High Court hearing over
allegations that he violated a court order to
return billions of dollars in missing funds to
the Brunei government.

Brunei included in France's "blacklist" of

2010 February tax havens. French businesses operating
in Brunei face increased taxes at home.

US add Brunei to its human trafficking

2010 June watch list as a destination for forced labor
and prostitution.

Malaysia and Brunei agree to jointly

2010 December develop two oil areas off Borneo, ending a
border dispute dating from 2003 which
held up exploration.

Brunei becomes the first east Asian

2014 April country to adopt sharia law, despite
widespread condemnation from
international human rights groups.

Brunei ratifies the Paris global climate

2016 September agreement.

source: BBC NEWS

INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL GROUPS

SULTANATE

It is the embodiment of the state, and Sultan Sir Muda Hassanal Bolkiah-the
twenty-ninth ruler in a dynasty that originated in the thirteenth century-is an absolute
monarch whose legitimacy derives from his heredity, not from popular elections or
accountability to Bruneians.

THE SULTAN

Sultan Sir Muda Hassanal Bolkiah-

He is the son of Sultan Haji Omar Ali
Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, ibn
Almarhum Sultan Mohammad Jamulul
Alam, who was known as the Sultan Seri
Begawan. Brunei’s capital, Bandar Seri
Begawan, is named in his honor. He
attempted to keep ultimate power for
himself, so the present sultan was not able to rule unconditionally until his father’s
death in 1986.

It has ceremonial responsibilities and exercises total control over day-to-day affairs
as the nation’s prime minister, defense minister, and finance minister. The
cabinet is made up principally of members of the sultan’s own royal family. The
sultan has the absolute power.

The sultan amended the constitution to include his own immunity from any form of
legal prosecution. The power of Sultan is enhanced by the fact that he oversees the
government’s bureaucracy, which employs an estimated two-thirds of Brunei total
 workforce. He is the head of the state, head of government, and leader of the
faith. All the state’s revenues and reserves are his, and he alone decides what
portion goes for state expenditures.

MILITARY

It is the smallest military force in ASEAN With about 4,500 members. Highly paid
national defense force represents a state that spends a higher portion of its budget on
defense than other ASEAN nation. The RBAF also contributed peacekeepers to
international operations in Cambodia, the Philippines and Lebanon. The RBAF regularly
engages in joint exercises with the US Marine corps, as well as armed forces from
Malaysia and Australia. The sultan recently purchased twelve Polish-made Black Hawk
helicopters with a capacity to monitor Brunei’s 200-Nautical-Mile-Executive Economic
Zone of the South China Sea.

POLITICAL PARTIES

It has no viable political parties, nor has the government mobilized its own party.
The sultan draws support from patrimonialist programs that depoliticize society. This
country’s short history is punctuated by failed attempts from actorsoutside the sultan’s
circle of patronage to form alternative political parties. Legislative council in the early
1960s but was forced into exile along with its leader A.M Azahari, following the 1962
rebellion. The Brunei National Democratic Party, established in 1985, sought to
promote a moderate platform based on Islam and liberal nationalism. Its primary goal
was to restore parliamentary democracy. The party leaders called for elections and
asked the sultan to give up his position as prime minister, they were arrested and the
party was forced to disband. In recent years, other parties were also forcibly
deregistered including the Brunei National Solidarity Party and the Brunei People’s
Awareness Party.
Parties were organized shortly after self-government was achieved in 1959. However,
when the Brunei People's Party won 98% of the legislative seats in the country's only
election, held in 1962, the sultan barred its candidates from office and outlawed all
political parties under a continuing state of emergency. Political parties reemerged in
the 1980s, but in 1988 they were banned and many of their leaders were arrested. At
that time, the political parties were: the Brunei National Democratic Party (BNDP),
founded in 1985, and the Brunei National United Party (BNUP), founded in 1986 by an
offshoot of the BNDP. In contrast to the BNDP, membership in the BNUP was open not
to Brunei Malays only, but to other indigenous people, whether Muslim or not. The
Chinese were left with the option of forming their own party. (Under Brunei's
restrictive naturalization policies only 6,000 Chinese had been granted citizenship.)

In 1995, the Brunei National Solidarity Party (PPKB in Malay), one of the initial parties
that had been banned in 1962, formally requested authorization to hold a convention
and elected Abdul Latif Chuchu, the former secretary-general of the BNDP, as its
president. As of 2002, its president was Mohd Hatta bin Haji Zainal Abidin.

State-Society relations and democracy

Brunei’s small size makes governance far easier than in the larger and more
diverse countries elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The state has brought virtually all
institutions into its fold, leaving no autonomous societal groups to compete with the
state apparatus. Every official, technocrat, and military officer in Brunei is related-
directly or indirectly- to sultan, his family, and his advisers. The Chinese
community is loyal to the state because businesses depend on the sultan’s continued
largesse and support.

The welfare state provides all basic needs of most Bruneians. There is a little
dissension with the sultan’s absolute powers. His lineage and royal aura, and his
leadership of Islam in Brunei, further strengthen his position. The moves by groups
calling for the formation of democratic institutions, and relegation of the sultan to
ceremonial rather than administrative functions have failed. There is no major external
threat to Brunei’s security today, nor has there been since 1962, when Indonesia
supported the Azahari revolt. There is no democracy in Brunei.

The country’s political system is an absolute monarchy with no representative

form of government-a politically closed regime. The 1984 constitution consolidated
the monarchy’s power by suspending parliamentary institutions. The reconvening of the
Legislative council in 2004 allowed for nonelected appointees to participate in some
constitutional amendments and policy-level decisions at the sultan’s behest. Even if the
legislative Council is reformed with directly elected seats, as the sultan has announced,
the capacity of elected representatives to exercise power would be limited at best. Civil
liberties in Brunei include freedom of movement but little else. Journalist must practice
self-censorship or risk charges of sedition. Labor rights are circumscribed and abuse of
foreign workers by employers is rarely prosecuted. Brunei is perpetually classified as
“not free” by freedom house. The presence of forced labor and prostitution in the
sultanate caused the United State to add Brunei to its human trafficking watch list since
2010.

Economy and Development

Vast oil reserves make the dynamics of Brunei’s economy different from the
agriculturally based economies of other Southeast Asian nations. Oil and natural gas
are the main sources of revenue, foreign investment, and employment. Brunei’s
revenues from the oil sector dropped significantly as a result of the global financial crisis
in 2008. Brunei’s top economic priority is therefore to diversify its economy to reduce
vulnerability.

Brunei’s government vies ecotourism as a promising alternative to the energy sector.

Their tropical forest makes tourism potentially attractive, but Brunei’s remote location
renders it unlikely as a tourist destination in a region with many options.

Another initiative proposed by the sultan seeks to make Brunei a center of Islamic
banking and finance, but the microstate lags far behind Malaysia in this sector. Since
Brunei’s workforce is made up of foreign workers, employment is another concern for
them.

There is great scope to improve the private sector and diversify the economy. A
comprehensive and economy-wide competition policy and law has not yet been
implemented in Brunei Darussalam.

Foreign Relations

After gaining full independence on 1984, Brunei joined ASEAN, strengthening its
relationship with former adversaries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Today, Brunei’s
foreign policy focuses on security attained through international legitimacy and
expanding economic relations. ASEAN membership has been the primary means to that
end. Brunei also cultivates relations beyond Southeast Asia with key partners. In 2013,
9B9runei chaired ASEAN amid growing tensions surrounding the Spratly Islands
dispute. Since independence, Brunei’s relations with the United States have been
surprisingly close.

Brunei supported efforts to create AFTA, the ASEAN Free Trade Area, and successfully
negotiated a free trade agreement with Japan, which imports 90 percent of Brunei’s
liquefied natural gas. Along with Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore.

Brunei played an important leadership role as a founding party to the Trans-Pacific

Partnership, which entered broader negotiations with twelve Pacific Rim countries.