Sultan of the people?

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Sep 25, 2009

By Dr. Rafick

1. I received a call last night from a retired Army General of the Royal Malay Regiment raising his concern after watching some shocking news coming from the Sultan of Pahang which was shown on TV.

His phone call led me to browse through the online Mainstream Media (MSM) and the online alternative media. It was buzzed with the news of the Sultan of Pahang had called upon the people to continue to support the BN government while officiating the opening of a bridge in Pahang.

2. I was equally shocked to hear what was uttered by HRH Sultan. In my mind, HRH has overstepped his professional, Royal and legal boundaries. His act of crossing of these boundaries worries me as it might lead to bigger things in this country especially after the action of the Sultan of Perak and the King (Sultan of Terengganu) in handling the Perak and Terengganu constitutional crisis respectively.

3. The law is very clear on the role of a Sultan. His role includes the appointment of MB’s as well as the religious head in a state. He is to remain neutral for the sake of the Rakyat. They use to be completely immune from prosecution until Tun Mahathir changes the laws. He has to be non partisan and must take an effort to ensure that he remains neutral in all aspects of governance. When the HRH make such statement of supporting a particular political party, it creates ill feeling among the Rakyat.

4. It really worries me when the HRH makes such a remarks especially in the current moment, the support for the need of having a Royal Family is waning significantly among the urban/semi-urban, young and middle age Malays in this country. The statement by the Sultan of Pahang may create further dissension among the people. It bothers me that the Malays that have been tolerating the many royal family and their antics in this country may just lose their tolerance. By being biased, HRH has opened a canned of worms wider.

5. Personally, I felt HRH should not have made such a statement. He has brought himself down to the level of a commoner and their politics. If by the will of the Almighty, PR is able to capture Pahang in the next GE, how would the Sultan reacts? Does it mean that he will not appoint the leader chosen by the Rakyat to govern them? Will he make life so difficult for the government of the day to function which will lead to problems of magnanimous proportion?