Between the Sultan and Me!! Nizar, You asked for it!

The Perak matter has seen sympathies flowing to Pakatan Rakyat and Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin, in particular.

I too have had my sympathies leaning towards Nizar and the Pakatan leaders in Perak. I even went under the assumption that Najib must have held the Sultan to ransom maybe.

Perakians showed their dismay. Their shock and their disappointment. As much as BN leaders have made all this show of emotion to be tantamount to hatred towards the monarchy, which position the monarchy too has repeated, it certainly is not hatred. It is shock and dismay in the believe that Pakatan Rakyat and Nizar have been done wrong. This misleading labeling of the show of emotions is unfortunately going to lead towards a response from the Authorities as well as the Monarchy that is not going to be in the best interest of anybody. Indeed the noise level from the Monarchy seems to have been raised a little recently which noise was not present during the time of Tun Mahathir's Premiership.


However, Malaysiakini carried this article on the 21 April, 2009 entitled "'Between the sultan and me'"! That being a quote from Nizar. He appears to be proud of all that he has cited in the affidavit that he has filed in the Kuala Lumpur High Court registry the day before. Giving a detailed account of what had transpired at the crucial meeting with the ruler on Feb 4 and 5 Nizar seems proud to reveal what was communicated by him to the Sultan.


Nizar is quoted as having warned the Sultan of the possible consequences he could face in failing to dissolve the state assembly. I reproduce below what was reported in the Malaysiakini report:

"Mohd Nizar said in his affidavit that the sultan had informed him on Feb 5 that he was not acceding to the request to dissolve the assembly.

The ousted menteri besar then requested for another 15-minute audience with the ruler and proceeded to list out several reasons as to why the assembly should be dissolved. These include:

1) He was applying for the dissolution of the assembly based on his power as the menteri besar.

2) Power should be returned to the people to choose a lawful government.

3) If the assembly was dissolved, the people would respect and improve and uplift the image of the royal institution and they would also be thankful. This will show that the sultan is just and non-partisan in letting the people to decide. This was in accordance with the concept of constitutional monarchy, and the democracy principles that the state upholds.

4) The sultan should be thankful and accept God's gift in allowing him to celebrate his silver jubilee and to return the peoples’ right to choose their own government.

5) Should the ruler not grant the dissolution, the people would blame the palace and the sultan himself.

6) Where was BN's morality in accepting Jamaluddin, Mohd Osman and Hee, with two of them facing corruption charges. What if Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman are found guilty of corruption, what would happen next? If the charges are withdrawn, the people would feel that it was based on intervention by the palace or BN.

7) If the assembly is dissolved, the royalty and the palace would be respected in the eyes of the public and international community. Thequestion of immunity of the rulers as brought about by (former premier) Dr Mahathir Mohamad would also be negated.

8) Mohd Nizar cited a passage from Sultan Azlan Shah's book titled 'Constitutional Monarchy, the Rule of Law and Good Governance' which had been given to him by the ruler on his appointment as menteri besar. The passage stated: "Under normal circumstances, it is taken for granted that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong would not withhold his consent to a request for the dissolution of the Parliament. His role is purely formal."

9) He also reminded the ruler of what happened in countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Egypt and Iran which once had a monarchy. However, once the monarchy reneged and sided with a political party, it resulted in their downfall.

Refused to resign

Mohd Nizar said he also told the sultan that during his silver jubilee celebrations, the latter had emphasised on good governance and pleaded with the ruler to uphold it by dissolving the assembly.

He also reminded the ruler of the statutory letter signed by the 31 Pakatan elected assemblypersons in support of him being menteri besar which was ordered by the palace.

Following this, Mohd Nizar said: “The sultan slowly raised his face and said he would not order the dissolution and instead called for my resignation.”

Refusing to do so, the ousted menteri besar then replied: "Ampun Tuanku, patik pohon sembah derhaka" (Forgive me your highness, I humbly beg to disagree).

He then kissed the hand of the ruler, who left the room without uttering a word."



So what is the Problem?


Now, I don't know about most of you. But the moment I read this, I felt myself being let down.

If what Nizar did was not patronising, I don't know what is! It would seem to me that the Sultan tried to advise him when he quoted to him the Quranic verse at the meeting on the February 5, "Innallaha maa Sobirin" (God is with the person who is patient)."


Having said that, to go back to the Sultan and to tell him all those things, thinking or assuming that the Sultan does not know of all this certainly would have insulted the intelligence of the Sultan.

I will not be surprised if the Sultan's staid position since then has to do with his sensibilities being ruffled by a most annoying patronising communicae.

To Nizar's credit, it would seem like as if such a communicae, in the extent and in its presumptions that it exudes, I have this feeling that it must have been drawn up by someone other than him or even those who might have any kind of inclinations towards royal protocols. May I suggest that it was the work of some DAP Assemblymen in Perak!


I know, reading this article, I felt disappointed. It was patronising, even to me, what more the Sultan. The Sultan's response, as told by Nizar, is most certainly one that is commensurate with what is deserving when one unschooled in the manners of the cultured behoves himself as Nizar seems to be suggesting that he did.

If the leaders in Pakatan can recognise this and see where it is that they erred, maybe as the Sultan has said "Innallaha maa Sobirin" (God is with the person who is patient).