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Recent developments in Pahang and Perak saw the country’s monarchs put to the test on their role as upright counsellors in resolving disputes in their respective states. It also puts into perspective the profundity in the politics and constitution of this country.
The involvement of royalties in the Perak Menteri Besar (MB) power tussle and Kartika Sari Dewi’s case not only created awareness at national level; the latter gained worldwide media attention. The issue of how much the royalties are allowed to meddle with national affairs is still not clear to many.
Perak MB Power Tussle
In modern Malaysian history, we’ve never ever seen people protesting against a Sultan in front of his palace neither would one think anybody would dare to. This is exactly what it came to as a result of Sultan Azlan Shah’s decision to step into the Perak MB power tussle and ‘take the power back’. Not surprisingly, the decision to have Umno’s Dato' Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir to replace Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin had damaging repercussions on the previously immaculate reputation of the Perak royals.
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The scene in front of the Palace of Justice where Opposition supporters
perform prayers while Umno/BN supporters (in yellow in background) gather
during the hearing to determine who's the rightful MB of Perak.
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Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) takes their postion in the entrance of the Federal Court.
Political tensions were high at the time and it was obvious that the situation was a win-lose case for the Perak royalties. Of course BN had the numbers to own the House but the central issue still remains in view of the argument that as long as the people of Perak put Pakatan Rakyat in power only they should determine the next state government.
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Burning emotions among supporters of Nizar at the Palace of Justice after
the Federal Court had given its verdict against.
A lot was expected of Sultan Azlan Shah and his son Raja Nazrin Shah because they have - through their speeches - positioned themselves as the conscience of Malaysia; the voices of reason and logic and guardians of the Federal Constitution. Tough times are ahead of them in reassuring this position have they been the subject of scorn and ridicule of Perak‘s sizeable PKR supporters.
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Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin asks his supporters to remain calm
after the verdict was given against him at the Federal Court. He said it was a
very sad day in the Malaysian history seeing as “democracy has been completely
torn to pieces and the rights of the people completely snatched.”
At the moment, Nizar and PKR are who had lost their appeal against the decision to remove him as Perak’s MB earlier this year are reappealing.
The Decision Over the Caning Sentence of Kartika Sari Dewi
The ongoing case of Kartika Sari Dewi’s (pic) caning sentence is not as political as the one in Perak though it did attract worldwide media attention. It was almost certain that Kartika was to get the caning sentence until the Tengku Mahkota Pahang, Tengku Abdullah stepped in to take control of her fate and the law. As the prince, he is able to recommend his father to decide whether or not to reduce Kartika's sentence. The Sultan, Tengku Ahmad Shah has the prerogative to pardon Kartika under Section 133 of the Pahang Syariah Criminal Procedure Enactment 2002.
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Tengku Abdullah, who is also President of the Pahang Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council, had granted Kartika an audience and said all parties must treat the matter seriously and not dispute the Sultan’s decision.
In July 20, Kartika, 33, was fined RM5,000 and ordered to be given six strokes of the rotan by the Kuantan Syariah High Court after she pleaded guilty to consuming alcohol in public. She paid the fine but refused to appeal against the caning sentence, which was later postponed several times.
At the moment, Sultan Ahmad Shah had said that he would have to seek legal advice on the Islamic caning of Kartika before making a decision. Kartika is still adamant on her decision not to appeal though many feel she is likely to be let off or have her sentence reduced seeing as she had had a closed-door meeting with the Tengku Mahkota and was seen coming out of the palace with a smile on her face.
Constitutional Monarchy and Sultan's Explicit Power
Intervention by the Malay Rulers in national affairs particularly those concerning matters of administration and politics is nothing new in modern history of this country. The late 70s and early eighties saw the burgeoning of royal assertiveness. Conflicts between several Sultans and MBs came out into the open for the first time in 1977 when the Sultan of Kelantan got involved in a crisis caused by the flagging relations between Umno and PAS (during their short-lived alliance). In a attempt to replace the Umno MB with a PAS one without elections being called, the Sultan tried to postpone the dissolution of the State Assembly following a vote of no confidence in the MB. The unrest led the Federal Government to declare a State of Emergency. In the subsequent State elections, Umno came to power, much to the Sultan’s dismay.
In the same year, the Sultan of Perak ostracised his MB until he was forced to resign. While in 1978, the Sultan of Pahang rejected the Umno MB nominee for and, in 1981, the Sultan of Johor forced his MB to resign after 14 years in office.
Mahathir Steps In
Tun Mahathir (pic) had been a long-time critic of the monarchy and when he assumed office in 1981 he proceeded to concentrate administrative power in the Federal Government which led to the passing of the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 1983. The bill put forward 22 amendments to the Federal Constitution, including three very significant changes to the position of the Malay Rulers.
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First, it removed the need for the Agong to give his Royal Assent to a piece of legislation before it could be gazetted as law. In any event the Agong did not give his Assent within 15 days, he was deemed to have done so, and the law could be enforced. Second, it introduced parallel provisions removing the need for a Sultan to give his Assent to State laws. Third, it transferred the power to declare an Emergency from the Agong directly to the Prime Minister, who was not obliged to act on anyone’s advice.
Escalating Rift between PKR and the Monarchs
We have nine sultans under nine separate state constitutions on king under the federal constitution. Notwithstanding, the question of how far the role of the constitutional monarchy extends beyond what is stipulated in the constitution still remains.
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In any case, what’s apparent in the recent state of affairs is that relations between Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and the sultans, namely Sultan Perak and the Agong of Terengganu, seems to have deteriorated in light with the Perak MB transfer of power issue. The wedge between the monarchy and the opposition was driven even further when the party’s leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) made the headlines recently for his controversial questioning of the Agong’s opening speech at the Dewan Rakyat. Related News
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