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Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Malaysia’s Umno has been drawn deeper into a royal row in Negeri Sembilan, after the president of the dominant Malay nationalist party denied attending a meeting reportedly linked to a bid to remove the state’s ruler.
The controversy has put the new Umno-led state government under pressure barely six weeks after taking office, reviving the same royal crisis that helped bring down its predecessor and force a snap election in August.
The episode is particularly sensitive for Umno, which has long cast itself as a defender of Malaysia’s Malay rulers. State monarchs retain important constitutional powers, including in the appointment of chief ministers.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, also Malaysia’s deputy prime minister, said late on Wednesday that he was not present when his fellow party member Ismail Lasim, the head of Negeri Sembilan’s government, signed a purported proclamation seeking the removal of ruler Muhriz Tuanku Munawir.
“I was not there. Ismail himself has denied this,” Zahid told reporters at Umno’s annual general assembly in Kuala Lumpur. He also rejected speculation that Ismail had quit.
Zahid said Umno would “not dirty our hands” in the dispute and questioned Ismail’s claim that he was forced to sign the proclamation.
“Who forced him? He says he was forced, that is what he said,” Zahid said, adding that lawyers present at the signing should verify Ismail’s comments.
Zahid was expected to meet Ismail later on Thursday to discuss the controversy, according to local media reports.

Ismail acknowledged in a statement on Wednesday that he signed the proclamation on August 3, one day after he was sworn in as chief minister before Muhriz at the royal palace in Seri Menanti, but said he had done so “against my will and under duress”.
He lodged a police report on Monday and maintained that the proclamation was “invalid, unconstitutional and unenforceable”. He also pledged his “full support and unwavering loyalty” to Muhriz.
Azmi Hassan, a senior fellow at the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research, said the episode had left Umno with little room to manoeuvre and could be used by its rivals to destabilise the state government.
“It is going to be very difficult for him [Ismail] to manoeuvre this particular issue, and also very, very difficult to be the chief minister when [Muhriz] is the Yang di-Pertuan Besar,” Azmi told This Week in Asia. “The state government must have a good relationship with the monarchy,” he said.
“Whether the chief minister signed under duress or not, it is an awkward position” not only for Ismail but also for Umno’s leadership.
The Singapore-based Straits Times had earlier reported, citing sources, that Zahid, Umno secretary general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and information chief Azalina Othman Said were present at the August 3 meeting in Port Dickson. All three have denied attending.
“I don’t know, I wasn’t there when he [Ismail] signed it. I really wasn’t,” Azalina told reporters. Asyraf also denied any involvement, saying he was not part of the Negeri Sembilan leadership.
Throne trouble
The dispute began on April 19, when four men claiming authority as Negeri Sembilan’s traditional territorial chiefs, known as the undang, declared Muhriz removed and named Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Ja’afar as his successor.
Negeri Sembilan has Malaysia’s only elective state monarchy. Muhriz is one of the country’s nine state monarchs, who together form the Conference of Rulers and elect Malaysia’s federal king.

Unlike Malaysia’s hereditary state monarchies, Negeri Sembilan’s ruler, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, is chosen by four undang representing Sungai Ujong, Jelebu, Johol and Rembau under adat perpatih, a customary system with roots in the Minangkabau traditions of Sumatra.
The chiefs also have constitutional powers to require the ruler to temporarily withdraw or abdicate under certain circumstances.
Two currently recognised undang, representing Sungai Ujong and Rembau, said the proclamation bearing Ismail’s signature could not be enforced.
They said the state’s highest customary council had already ruled on July 31 that the April attempt was void and that three of the chiefs behind it no longer had authority to act in those positions.
The royal dispute brought down the previous state government in April, when all 14 lawmakers from the Umno-led Barisan Nasional withdrew support for chief minister Aminuddin Harun, ending his Pakatan Harapan-led administration and forcing the August 1 election.
BN subsequently won 18 of the state’s 36 seats and formed a government with Perikatan Nasional, which took seven seats. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan won the remaining 11.


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Umno president has questioned a fellow party member’s statement that he was forced to sign a document to remove the state’s ruler


Umno president has questioned a fellow party member’s statement that he was forced to sign a document to remove the state’s ruler.


Palace plot in Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan entangles Umno leaders

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Umno president has questioned a fellow party member’s statement that he was forced to sign a document to remove the state’s ruler

Umno president has questioned a fellow party member’s statement that he was forced to sign a document to remove the state’s ruler