King’s ‘independence’ surprises Umno leaders, say sources
By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — The Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s “independence” over the Bersih issue through his edict and meeting the electoral reform group is causing some consternation among Umno politicians, including several ministers, sources say.
The Malaysian Insider understands that they are upset by Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin’s decision to grant an audience to Bersih 2.0 chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan last Tuesday, arguing that it is outside his constitutional powers.
Government officials also confirmed that there has been a series of tooing and froing of the draft of the King’s statement between the palace and the Najib administration before Istana Negara issued what amounted to measured advice late Sunday.
“Some Umno politicians felt that the King’s statement should have been more strongly worded against Bersih. And some ministers are also upset that the King met Ambiga,” a source told The Malaysian Insider.
A Cabinet minister confirmed with The Malaysian Insider that dissenting views were raised during the weekly Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“They felt that the Agong is not the executive arm of the administration and the Agong must subscribe to the constitutional monarchy system where he acts on advice of the PM.
“So most of the ministers felt that this was done without PM’s knowledge. But PM knows, so actually, it was a wrong assumption,” said the minister.
The minister added that the disapproval was also largely because the government had already declared Bersih 2.0 an outlawed organisation.
The King’s agreement to meet Ambiga, said the minister, gave the appearance that the Ruler did not recognise the Bersih 2.0’s status as illegal.
