An overview of the policy actors and their functions in Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) policy implementation in Malaysia

Terrorism has continuously become a global security issue as it has resulted in the loss of innocent lives and has heavy global financial impacts. International terrorism is an ongoing global risk that threatens Malaysia as it will lead to chaos and jeopardize national security. This paper explores the implementation of the Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) policy in Malaysia, focusing on the actors, their functions, and their challenges. This paper adopts a top-down approach analysis to identify the flow of policy implementation of CVE in Malaysia and the actors involved in each stage of the policy implementation. This study utilizes a qualitative method through elite interviews and document analysis. This study conducted seven interviews with policymakers from the Malaysian Royal Police Force, Ministry of Defense, and academic experts. Apart from that, official government documents such as the Defense Whitepaper and government agencies' websites were analyzed to identify the actors and their roles in implementing CVE. The findings show that CVE implementation often relies heavily on delegation from the top (legislative and executive body) to the bottom (government agencies and society involvement). This study also finds that the heavy top-down approach led to a lack of coordination and monitoring guidelines of the diverse actors in the implementation of CVE. Hence, the policymakers should establish a national coordination committee and national action plan specifically for CVE. This paper informs the policymakers on the emerging issues that need to be considered in the efforts to establish a comprehensive CVE national action plan, as mentioned in the 11th ASEAN-United Nations Summit