OCTOBER 9 — Little may be known that the appointment of a Menter Besar of a state “have not been so smooth sailing”.
His Royal Highness Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah shared a number of incidents or events in “The Role of Constitutional Rulers”, first published in Journal of Malaysian and Comparative Law, 1982.
First, the incident in his Majesty’s own state where it was well known that the then Sultan of Perak and his former Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Ghazali Jawi, were not on good terms.
However, as the Menteri Besar had the confidence of his party, there was nothing that the Sultan could do to replace him with another Menteri Besar.
The Sultan “refused to attend any functions where Tan Sri Ghazali was present. The matter got so bad that the Sultan finally decided to sport a beard, and vowed that he would only shave it off after Tan Sri Ghazali had left the office of Menteri Besar.”
The crisis was solved when the Menteri Besar, on the advice of his party leaders, resigned from office.
Another name was submitted to the Sultan and the Sultan appointed him as Menteri Besar.
A similar incident occurred in Pahang. The [then] Regent of Pahang could not get along with his Menteri Besar, Datuk Abdul Rahim Abu Bakar.
It was solved in the same way as in Perak. (See Tunku Abdul Rahman, As a Matter of Interest, Heinemann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd, 1981, pp 28-30)
Another incident, also in Pahang, took place in 1978. The Tengku Ariff Bendahara, a younger brother of the then Sultan, announced that he intended to enter politics and allowed himself to be considered for appointment to the post of Menteri Besar.
The Sultan then made it known that he would not have his brother as a Menteri Besar and claimed “that he had the right under the State Constitution to oppose the appointment.”
The statement of the Sultan was severely criticised by first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. However, a crisis was avoided as the Tengku Ariff Bendahara did not go into politics.
An incident in Johor involving the then Sultan of Johor and Menteri Besar, Datuk Haji Othman bin Saat was also related by His Majesty.
From reports in the press it seemed that the Sultan could not get along with the Menteri Besar. His Royal Highness even ordered the Menteri Besar to vacate his office premises as he (the Sultan) wanted to occupy the premises.
The Menteri Besar vacated the premises. But as the general election was just round the corner, the Menteri Besar stayed on in his position. He did not seek re-election.
His Majesty Sultan Azlan Shah then wrote:
“The Perak and Pahang incidents mentioned above were not protracted and did not lead to any serious constitutional crisis because the ruling party gave in. One could imagine the consequences if it had not. In fact, it is well-known that in submitting a candidate for appointment as Menteri Besar the party always takes into consideration his acceptability to the Ruler.
“This shows how important the role played by the Rulers is even in matters in which he has no absolute discretion, even though at times their actions are difficult to justify.
“Party leaders should be complimented for their willingness to give in to avoid and to solve major constitutional crises with the Rulers. The Rulers too should reciprocate.
“As the Tunku puts it: Loyal people have accepted the institution, and, what is more, the Rulers have been given more rights than they had once enjoyed in British colonial days, at least as far as the Sultans of the former Federated Malay States are concerned.
“It is for the Rulers to reciprocate, to show their appreciation, and to play the role they are expected to, and have played so admirably well since our Merdeka.”
His Majesty wasn’t finished though.
In 1982 in Selangor, following the General Election where the Barisan Nasional won 31 out of 33 seats in the State Legislative Assembly, Datuk Haji Ahmad Razali was one of the successful Barisan Nasional candidates.
Four days after the elections, the press reported that Ahmad Razali had been nominated by the party as the next Menteri Besar of Selangor.
The report also said that the Sultan would have to decide whether to accept or reject the nomination and quoting sources in Umno (one of the component parties of the Barisan Nasional) went on to say that it was highly unlikely that the Sultan would reject the nomination as Ahmad Razali had close ties with the Sultan.
The report also quoted Datuk Haji Harun Idis, the Selangor Barisan Nasional Director of Elections as saying that the State Assemblymen had unanimously agreed to Datuk Ahmad’s nomination and that he (Harun Idris) would present the name to the Sultan the following day.
According to His Majesty, the news was also carried by RTM, a government agency. The Sultan of Selangor was upset over the television news, it being a part of the government mass media. His Royal Highness cancelled the scheduled meeting with Harun Idris.
The State Secretary told the press that the Sultan would leave for a holiday in Australia on the following day and would deal with the appointment of the Menteri Besar on his return. He did not say when the Sultan would return.
On the same day the news of the Sultan’s displeasure was carried by the press, then Prime Minister Datuk Hussein Onn had an audience with the Sultan.
At the meeting, the Sultan agreed to appoint Ahmad Razali as Menteri Besar. According to the State Secretary, the Sultan “appeared happy” after the meeting with Hussein Onn.
It appeared that the real reason behind His Royal Highness’ displeasure was the decision of the party to send Harun Idris to submit the name of the nominee to His Royal Highness.
Harun Idris, though one of the Vice Presidents of Umno, held no government post.
It would have been polite and proper if the incumbent Menteri Besar or the Prime Minister or his Deputy were to seek an audience with the Royal Highness to submit the name of the new Menteri Besar, as was done in other States.
It was fortunate that Prime Minister Datuk Hussein Onn took quick remedial action to settle the misunderstanding.
There is a subtle message in the above incidents, related by no other than the late Sultan Azlan Shah – High Court Judge, Chief Justice of Malaya and Lord President of the Federal Court, and subsequently the Sultan of Perak and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
For the discerning.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
