II - POLITICAL OUTLOOK 1997-98

Summary

Brunei

Domestically, Brunei continues to emphasize the conservative and traditional nature of its polity. In line with its national philosophy of Melayu Islam Beraja, Islam has been given a higher profile. Like other modernizing monarchies, the Sultanate has consistently made recourse to Islamic themes in a period of rising religious enthusiasm with the aim of reducing or neutralizing the effectiveness of Islamic opposition. Since 1990, the Sultan has called for existing laws in the state to be brought more in line with the teachings of Islam. A step in this direction is the Sultan's call to implement Shariah law beyond the sphere of family law and to apply it to criminal acts. Islamic banking institutions, introduced in the last few years, have reportedly been doing well, and the newly-established Islamic Trust Fund is gaining popularity among the dominant Muslim community.

The tiny kingdom was recently reminded of the tumultuous December 1962 revolt when Zaini Hj Ahmad, an ex-rebel leader, was released from detention and given a royal pardon just a few days before the Sultan's fiftieth birthday celebrations in July 1996. Zaini was one of the leaders of the Brunei revolt and had escaped from detention to Malaysia in 1973 and remained there as an exile until his recent return to the Sultanate for rehabilitation. The year 1996 also witnessed the historic meeting of the General Assembly of the mukim and kampong, local and village, consultative councils which were constituted in 1993 with the objective of consolidating the grassroots institutions of the penghulu and ketua kampong, the local and village heads.

The Royal Brunei Armed Forces will continue its modernization programme and has signed a contract with GEC Yarrows of Scotland for the supply of three offshore patrol vessels which will be delivered in 2000. These will be used to beef up the Sultanate's naval presence in the South China Sea, where it has a long-standing dispute with China over the Spratly Islands.