Selangor 101: a history lesson of the state in turmoil (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)
After giving Terengganu back to Umno in 2004 and giving Kedah back to Umno in 2013, would PAS now want to also give Selangor back to Umno? Hence PAS had better think long and hard what its next move is going to be.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Today, 13th August 2014, is the Tenth Anniversary of Malaysia Today, which was founded on Friday the 13th (of August 2004). Yes, Friday the 13th, a most sweh (meaning cursed and pronounced ‘sway’) day according to Western superstition.
But today I do not want to talk about the founding of Malaysia Today. I want to talk about the founding of Selangor because too many people are talking about Selangor, and the present crisis the state is facing, without understanding one bit what they are talking about.
Selangor did not exist prior to 1745. Before that what we now call Selangor was a territory of Perak and ruled by Sultan Muzaffar Shah III Ibni Almarhum Yang Dipertuan Muda Mansur Shah, the 13th Sultan of Perak. Hence Perak and its Sultanate were already in existence at that time with a population of about 30,000.
The first Sultan of Perak, Sultan Muzaffar Shah I, was the son of the Sultan of Melaka, Sultan Mahmud Shah I, who was ousted by the Portuguese in 1511. Hence the Perak Sultanate started after that, in 1528.
Because of Selangor’s high influx of Bugis from the Riau islands, Sultan Muzaffar Shah decided to give Selangor self-rule and in 1745 Sultan Muzaffar Shah installed Bugis prince Raja Lumu, the son of Daeng Celak of Riau, as the first Sultan of Selangor. The installation of Raja Lumu, who took the name Sultan Salehuddin Shah, was done in Lumut in Perak.
In 1875, because of the Selangor Civil War, the British intervened and forced Sultan Abdul Samad to accept a British Resident who would act as the adviser to the palace. So, after 130 years as a sovereign state, Selangor became a British protectorate but not quite a colony.
In 1946, soon after the end of WWII, the British formed the Malayan Union, which was strongly opposed by the Malays, my grandfather Raja Sir Tun Uda Raja Muhammad, being one of them.
1946 was also the year that Umno was formed and in 1947 Hamza Abdullah was appointed the first Menteri Besar of Selangor. But he was not an Umno member though.
In 1948, because of the nationwide protests, the British abandoned the Malayan Union and formed the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu or the Federation of Malay States. In 1949, my grandfather Raja Uda was appointed the second Menteri Besar of Selangor. He was also not an Umno member.
Othman Mohamad was appointed the third Menteri Besar in 1953 and this was the first Umno Menteri Besar Selangor ever had. But he stayed for slightly over a year and in 1954 my grandfather was again appointed the Menteri Besar for a second term, but still not an Umno member and never was until the day he died.
After my grandfather Raja Uda, Selangor had another ten Menteris Besar, all from Umno, until Khalid Ibrahim in 2008, the 14th Menteri Besar of Selangor.
The bottom line is: you do not need to be a party member to become the Menteri Besar of Selangor. It is entirely the prerogative of His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor. Article 53(2)(a) of the Selangor state constitution merely states that HRH shall first appoint as Menteri Besar to preside over the State Executive Council (Exco), a member of the Legislative Assembly who in his judgement is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly.
It does not say you must be a political party member or that your party must have the majority seats in the House. It is up to HRH’s judgement as to whom in his view is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the House. And do you want to be the mouse that bells the cat by arguing with HRH that his judgement is flawed?
In the first place, will HRH even give his consent for you to have an audience with him to argue your case and state that you disagree with his judgement? HRH can refuse to see you like he did with Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail two days ago. And if HRH refuses to see you what can you do about it? Sue him in court?
You can, of course, demonstrate that HRH’s judgement is flawed by tabling a motion of no confidence in the state assembly against the Menteri Besar of HRH’s choice . However, there is also one problem with this.
For the state assembly to sit, HRH must first give his consent. And if HRH withholds consent the state assembly cannot meet. And if the state assembly cannot meet then a vote of no confidence cannot be passed all the way up to the next general election in 2018 or so.
Anwar Ibrahim or Pakatan Rakyat can challenge this if they want to. They can even take to the streets to protest or sue the Sultan in court. But the Sultan decides if the state assembly sits and the Sultan decides who shall be the Menteri Besar.
And if you think HRH the Sultan does not know the law or the constitution, or is not being advised by the best legal brains, then think again because if you try to take on the Sultan you are going to be in for rude shock.
Pakatan Rakyat is not a legal entity, like Barisan Nasional. Pakatan Rakyat is merely a pact. Hence, currently there is no Pakatan Rakyat government in Selangor. What Selangor currently has, because of the four PAS Exco members, is a PAS government with an independent Menteri Besar as its head.
PAS has 15 seats, 16 if with Khalid. DAP has 15 (14 if minus the Speaker) while PKR and Umno have 13 and 12 respectively. That makes PAS the majority in the state assembly, not Pakatan Rakyat, because Pakatan Rakyat is merely a pact and not a legal entity.
Khalid needs a minimum of four Exco members, which he has. The maximum is ten, of course. If PAS decides to follow PKR and DAP and leave the government, all Khalid has to do is appoint four new Exco members from amongst the 12 Umno state representatives. Then Selangor will have an Umno government with an independent Menteri Besar.
PAS would be wise to not join PKR and DAP by abandoning Khalid. If they do, then Selangor will have Umno Exco members. Technically, Umno would now control Selangor because of PAS.
After giving Terengganu back to Umno in 2004 and giving Kedah back to Umno in 2013, would PAS now want to also give Selangor back to Umno? Hence PAS had better think long and hard what its next move is going to be.
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经过在2004年的登嘉楼和2013年的吉打被巫统拿走后，如今回教党会否把雪兰莪拱手让位给巫统？因此，回教党必须想得非常清楚下一步该怎样走。
原文：Raja Petra Kamarudin
Translated by Ngew Kok Yew
译文：宫轩
今天，2014年8月13日，是“今日大马”成立的十周年纪念日，那天也是13号星期五。没错，黑色星期五，根据西方的迷信，那天是一个非常不吉利的一天。
但是，今天我并不想讨论有关“今日大马”的成立。我想谈谈有关雪兰莪的成立，因为随着如今雪州所面临的危机，太多人讨论有关事项却对自己的言论一无所知。
雪兰莪在1795年前并不存在。在这之前，我们现今所称为的“雪兰莪”其实是当时霹雳的直属，由霹雳第十三任苏丹——Sultan Muzaffar Shah III Ibni Almarhum Yang Dipertuan Muda Mansur Shah 所统治。这意味着霹雳和其苏丹统治在那时已经存在，同时也拥有大约3万人口。
第一位霹雳苏丹，Sultan Muzaffar Shah I是马六甲苏丹，Sultan Mahmud Shah I——在1511年被葡萄牙人驱赶——的儿子。因此，随后的1528年的霹雳便有了苏丹统治。
由于雪兰莪发生从廖内群岛（Riau Islands）来的布吉人（Bugis）的高度涌入，Sultan Muzaffar Shah 决定给予其自治，在1795年便册封布吉王子Raja Lumu，来自廖内的Daeng Celak的儿子，为雪兰莪的第一任苏丹。Raja Lumu的册封仪式在Lumut举行，随后便尊号为Sultan Salehuddin Shah。
由于雪兰莪在1875年所发生的内战，英国人借以渗入和强逼Sultan Abdul Samad接受一位英国人做苏丹的顾问。因而，在拥有130年的君主主权统治后，雪兰莪成为英国不属真真殖民性质的受保护国。
在1946年二战结束不久，英国成立遭受马来群众强力反对的马来亚联邦（Malayan Union），而我的祖父Raja Sir Tun Uda Raja Muhammad也是他们当中的一位。
1946年也是巫统（UMNO）成立的第一年。1947年，Hamza Abdullah被委任为第一位雪兰莪的州务大臣，然而他并不是巫统党员。
1948年，基于全国性的示威，英国唯有放弃马来亚联邦和成立马来亚联合邦（Federation of Malay States）。1949年，我的祖父 Raja Uda被委任为雪兰莪的第二位州务大臣，他也同时不是巫统党员。
1953年，Othman Mohamad被委任为第三任雪兰莪的州务大臣，这也是第一次巫统党员被委任为雪兰莪的州务大臣。可是他不过出任近一年的时间，在1954年我的祖父Raja Uda被二度委任为该州的州务大臣，然而他依然不是，就连直到他去世时也不是巫统党员。
在我的祖父随后的十位州务大臣都是来自于巫统，直到卡立（Khalid Ibrahim）出任第十四位州务大臣。
这里的概要是：你不必是任何政党的党员才能出任雪兰莪的州务大臣。这完全是雪兰莪苏丹殿下的特权。雪兰莪州宪法的第53（2）（a）条文指出，苏丹殿下基于本身的判决委任得到州议会多数支持的州议员为州务大臣来州行政议会（EXCO）。
并不是说你一定要是位党员或是你的党在议会拥有多数席位。这乃取决于苏丹殿下自身的判决来决定谁人得到州议会的多数支持。难道你要像一只用铃引猫的老鼠来说明苏丹殿下的决策是错的？
前提是，你认为苏丹会御准让你觐见殿下然后听取你反对殿下决策的辩解？殿下能像两天前对待旺阿兹莎（Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail）般拒绝你。如果殿下真的拒绝你，那你又能如何？难道到法庭去告殿下？
当然，你可以通过动议投不信任票来证明殿下所委任的州务大臣是错误的人选。但是，这里却隐含了一个问题。
必须得到殿下的御准才能召开州议会。如果苏丹殿下不批准，那么州议会将无法被召开。如果州议会无法被召开，那么州议员便无法投下不信任票直到下届可能是2018年的大选。
如果安华（Anwar Ibrahim）或民联愿意，他们能够对此发出挑战。他们甚至可以到街头去示威或是到法院去告苏丹。然而，最终还是苏丹决定是否召开州议会和谁人出任州务大臣。
如果你认为苏丹殿下不了解法律或宪法，又或是没有得到顶级法律顾问的意见，请你再重新思考，因为如果你想尝试挑战苏丹，那么你将会接到无比的震撼。
民联并不是合法注册的个体，不像国阵。民联纯粹是个契约。因此，如今雪兰莪并不是所谓的民联的州政府。由于四位来自回教党的议员尚任州行政议员，那么雪兰莪如今是由独立议员领头的回教党州政府。
卡立拥有四位州行政议员——必须有至少四位。当然，最多只能有十位。如果回教党决定跟随行动党和公正党的脚步退出州政府，卡立必须做的便是从十二位巫统代表中委任四位出任州行政议员。如此，雪兰莪将会有由独立议员领头的巫统州政府。
回教党不跟随行动党和公正党放弃卡立是个明智的决定。要不然，雪兰莪将会有来自巫统的州行政议员。深层来说，回教党给予巫统机会控制雪兰莪。
经过在2004年的登嘉楼和2013年的吉打被巫统拿走后，如今回教党会否把雪兰莪拱手让位给巫统？因此，回教党必须想得非常清楚下一步该怎样走。
