The Legislative Council was suspended in 1984, since when the Sultan has ruled through emergency decree. He has sole power to amend the provisions of existing laws. There are no elections; the last election was held in 1962. The national ideology, Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB), invokes Islam and Brunei’s history in support of the Sultan’s absolute power, as well as the paramountcy of the Malays in Brunei