The Agong and Sultan Sharafuddin will never consent to a Mahathir led government
“Which is why, you can be sure that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong would never consent to a Mahathir led government in the unlikelihood that Pakatan Harapan wins the next election (GE14). Like Sultan Sharafuddin, the King knows that PPBM is merely a vessel to help Kit Siang advance his devious agenda against the ruling Barisan Nasional government. But that’s not all – the rulers also remember how Mahathir spent 22 years undermining the Monarchical Institution by amending the Federal Constitution to consolidate his grip of power”
THE THIRD FORCE
Not many are aware that the political identity of the Malay is inscribed in the Federal Constitution through its regard for the traditional Monarch. Back in the days of the Malacca Sultanate, a ruler was revered and accorded the kind of celebrity the British would accord King Henry the Sixth and Edward the Fourth. Today, Queen Elizabeth the Second is still honored with that distinction, while in Malaysia, you actually have Malay leaders telling our rulers to be “careful” with their words lest they cause “the country to burn.”
Those were the words of Dato’ Zaid Ibrahim, who took to tweeter last Thursday to convey that message to Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah. The former de facto Law Minister maintains that he meant no harm to the ruler of Selangor. But that’s quite hard for anyone to digest, considering that Zaid is currently a member of the DAP, a Chinese chauvinist concern led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s onetime arch nemesis, Lim Kit Siang.
And therein the irony.
You see, back in the days of Langkah Kajang, Kit Siang became the first Chinaman to tell a ruler to butt out of state political affairs. The year was 2014, and the mission, to force a resignation from Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, then the Menteri Besar of Selangor. The senior Lim warned Sultan Sharafuddin against overstepping his jurisdiction as the titular head of Selangor when the latter refused to acknowledge PKR’s choice of a replacement for Khalid, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Three years later, Mahathir became the first Malay to openly declare that the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak, was a Bugis pirate who got lost at sea and ended up in Malaysia. Despite a royal rebuke from Sultan Sharafuddin and sharp criticism by Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla, the former premier reiterated the stand during a Pakatan Harapan rally held a week later by insisting that Najib was a Bugis pirate and not a warrior.
Today, Kit Siang is sitting alongside the former premier on a bench dedicated to throwing dragons, trucks, busses and locomotives at Najib and UMNO, forget the kitchen sink and spanner. And while they’re at it, they seem all too willing to hurl insults at Sultan Sharafuddin for no apparent rhyme or reason. In Kit Siang’s books, the ruler is someone the Chinese need not fear, let alone revere. In Mahathir’s books, Sultan Sharafuddin is just another Buginese pirate who is not worthy of his respect.
Now, when a Chinaman as insolent as Kit Siang decides to work with a Keralan as insolent as Mahathir, you have the perfect recipe for havoc given that the union represents an agreement between a Chinese leader and a former Malay statesman to disregard the eminency of the Monarchical institution. Back in fifteenth century Malacca, the duo would probably have had their heads chopped off or suffered fates far worse than death at the hands of villagers.
But today, they have a following.
Thanks to the duo, we now have people like Zaid growing balls the size of two watermelons and hurling abuses at members of royalty. Still, you have to believe me when I say that there is absolutely no conspiracy at play insofar as Zaid and his random rants are concerned. This fellow has a history of blurting out the most insensitive of remarks at the most inappropriate of times whenever he feels the coast is clear.
In this case, he saw his own party’s de facto chief working in tandem with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (PPBM) chairman against the palace and decided to join in the fray. So you shouldn’t spend too much time trying to figure this fellow out. However, it is definitely worth your while figuring out what Mahathir is up to each time he picks a quarrel with the ruler of Selangor.
Yes, it’s always the ruler of Selangor, in case you haven’t noticed.
Most recently, the former premier returned two awards both he and his wife received – one in 1978, and another, in 2003 – from Sultan Sharafuddin’s late father, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah. Ever since then, there have been an abundance of theories purporting to reveal just why Mahathir resorted to what many are referring to as a “royal snub.” But unbeknown to many, the real reason has to do with something I made public on Wednesday, which you can read all about by clicking HERE.
Suffice to say, the former premier returned the awards upon learning that the ruler had already planned to revoke them. The matter was leaked to Mahathir through his wife by her own brother, Tan Sri Mohamed Hashim Mohd Ali. Hashim happens to be a member of the Selangor Ruler’s Council where the ruler was scheduled to propose the revocation. The retired army general knew that by leaking the information, the former premier would immediately return the awards just to deny Sultan Sharafuddin the ‘pleasure’ of ‘embarrassing’ him in public.
