'People's Assembly'; Jawi: ديوان رعيت‎), is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, the federal legislature of Malaysia.

Members hold their seats until the Dewan Rakyat is dissolved, the term of which is constitutionally limited to five years after an election.

The Cabinet is solely responsible to the Dewan Rakyat, and the prime minister only has to maintain the support of the lower house.

At that time, 52 out of the 100-member council were elected directly by the people using first-past-the-post system, returning one representatives from each constituencies.

The council was dissolved in 1959, a year ahead of its expiration term to pave the way for a new election for the new Dewan Rakyat, which was to be the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia.

After the formation of Malaysia, a special autonomy status allowing representatives from Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore to be elected indirectly by the state assemblies.

Upon the reopening of the Parliament, the Alliance returned with a supermajority government after Bornean local parties, PAS and GERAKAN joined the coalition, later to be known as Barisan Nasional.

The presiding officer of the Dewan Rakyat is the Speaker, who is elected at the beginning of each Parliament or after the vacation of the post, by the MPs.

The Dewan Rakyat machinery is supervised by the Clerk of the House who is appointed by the King; he may only be removed from office through the manner prescribed for judges or by mandatory retirement at age 60.

[3] According to the Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has the right at his own discretion to either grant or withhold consent to dissolve the parliament.

If consent is withheld, the government must resign and the King would appoint a new Prime Minister that has the support of the majority of members of Parliament.

[6] A proposed act of law begins its life when a particular government minister or ministry prepares a first draft with the assistance of the Attorney-General's Department.

[13] It is often alleged that legislation proposed by the opposition parties, which must naturally be in the form of a private member's bill, is not seriously considered by Parliament.

Nevertheless, it is admitted by some of these critics that "government officials often face sharp questioning in Parliament, although this is not always reported in detail in the press.

"[14] In 2016, Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia introduced a Special Chamber of the Dewan Rakyat which holds proceedings separately from the main house, to "allow matters of national importance or urgency to be discussed without interrupting the normal proceedings of the Lower House.

"[15] Government and opposition leaders both welcomed the move, with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said, Democratic Action Party whip Anthony Loke, and People's Justice Party whip Johari Abdul issuing favourable statements to the press.

"[17] When he and Pandikar spoke at a panel on parliamentary reform in 2021, Liew also proposed expanding the amount of time allotted for Special Chamber debates: "Currently, only two speeches of seven and a half minutes each by backbenchers or opposition MPs with replies from government of equal time are permitted, amounting to only 30 minutes each day.

"[18] In 2023, after being elected Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, Johari announced that the Special Chamber would double the number of motions permitted per session from two to four.