Interfering Rulers

• 23 April 2019
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Prime Minister Mahathir is reported as saying that he has difficulty in dealing with Malaysia’s “Rulers”. No doubt that is an accurate statement of the actual position but it des not reflect the legal and constitutional one.

To be fair, some Rulers have accepted their constitutional position and are fulfilling their limited roles in their States. Others, regrettably, spend much of their time trying to assert powers that they no longer have and practice continual interference in the political governance of their States.

They would do well to take a closer look at the far greater and more important Monarchy in Great Britain. There the Monarch has certain constitutional duties which she performs as required but otherwise has no role in political life. That is a constitutional position that suits all concerned, the Royal Family, the government and the electorate. The Malaysian Sultans would do well to follow that example and by doing so preserve their positions and privileges, albeit that these are an anomaly in modern political life.

Previous holders of the office of Yang di Pertuan Agong have failed in the performance of its duties as laid down in the Constitution and have shown themselves as compliant with unlawful pressures exerted by political leaders. Such compliance makes the case for alternative, namely the abolition of Monarchy that much stronger