Continuing his "constitutional" tirade on the monarchy intervening in administrative matters, Dr Mahathir Mohamad pointed out how in the era of absolute power, the royalty had conceded large tracts of land to foreigners.
In his previous posting, the former premier warned of foreigners having a hand in the controversial Johor bill, which observers believe was in reference to Singaporeans, who are said to own vast amounts of land and property in Johor and wield a strong influence over the state palace.
"A constitutional monarch has no executive power. This means that he may not be involved in the administration of the country.
"This was considered necessary because in the past the Malay states were ruled by rulers with absolute power and the people were forbidden from being involved in politics.
"The result was that tracts of land were given to foreign countries, concessions given to foreign businesses, and finally independence was surrendered to the British under treaties lasting for as long as there is the sun and the moon," he said in a blog posting today.
In another instance, Mahathir pointed out the Malay rulers caved in to the demands of British colonial administrator Harold MacMichael to hand over their states to the British for the formation of the Malayan Union.
"It was because the rulers could be so easily persuaded to make wrong decisions that the executive authority was transferred to the elected government," he said.
Mahathir acknowledged that this happened in a backdrop where rajahs and maharajas in India and sultans in Indonesia were being deposed.
However, he said with power shifting to the government and Parliament, they were expected to be firm in defending the federal constitution and the rakyat.
"The prime minister in particular must be firm and not be swayed by customary adats or deference to the rulers," he said.
Mahathir added that rulers were paid handsome pensions and should not be involved in businesses because government officers would find it hard to say "no" to them.
"There was also the belief that unscrupulous businessmen would make use of the sultans to get an advantage over others and to bypass rules and policies," he said.
No ISA, critics will go further
He warned that with the repeal of the internal security act, there was no longer a deterrent against insulting the rulers and people may decide to go "further" if the federal constitution is not respected.
He said these people might become more blatant by demanding amendment to the Federal Constitution, but did not specify what changes he was referring to.
"It is dangerous, therefore, for anyone, including royalty to disregard the limitations imposed by the constitution," he said.
Mahathir, who served as prime minister from 1981 to 2003, oversaw moves to curb the monarchs' powers by introducing a special court to hear charges against them.
Under his premiership, reforms were also introduced to have bills passed by Parliament to automatically become law within two months even if the monarchs refused to endorse them.
Mahathir said the changes were necessary as there was fear in Malaysia that the Agong will not comply with convention like in the UK where their sovereign would dutifully act on advice of their prime minister.
He reiterated that Malaysia was a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, stressing that the Federal Constitution has thus far served Malaysia well.
His remarks today is the second part of his blog posting when he first raised concern about the Johor bill.
However, in this posting, he made no mention of Johor.
The Johor Housing and Real Property Board Bill 2014, which was passed today, will see the creation of the Johor Housing and Real Property Board to promote and undertake the development of housing and real estate property in Johor.
It initially granted the sultan executive power over the board, including appointing board members, determining their allowances, scrutinising the board's accounts as well as being empowered to dissolve the board.
This raised concern of a blurring between the monarchy and the executive and subsequently amendments were made to address the matter.
However, Johor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled denied that the Bill would grant the sultan executive powers as the state constitution binds the sultan to advice from the menteri besar.
The Council of the Royal Court echoes this, and assured that the sultan will never misuse his authority.
In his previous posting, the former premier warned of foreigners having a hand in the controversial Johor bill, which observers believe was in reference to Singaporeans, who are said to own vast amounts of land and property in Johor and wield a strong influence over the state palace."A constitutional monarch has no executive power. This means that he may not be involved in the administration of the country.
"This was considered necessary because in the past the Malay states were ruled by rulers with absolute power and the people were forbidden from being involved in politics.
"The result was that tracts of land were given to foreign countries, concessions given to foreign businesses, and finally independence was surrendered to the British under treaties lasting for as long as there is the sun and the moon," he said in a blog posting today.
In another instance, Mahathir pointed out the Malay rulers caved in to the demands of British colonial administrator Harold MacMichael to hand over their states to the British for the formation of the Malayan Union.
"It was because the rulers could be so easily persuaded to make wrong decisions that the executive authority was transferred to the elected government," he said.
Mahathir acknowledged that this happened in a backdrop where rajahs and maharajas in India and sultans in Indonesia were being deposed.
However, he said with power shifting to the government and Parliament, they were expected to be firm in defending the federal constitution and the rakyat.
"The prime minister in particular must be firm and not be swayed by customary adats or deference to the rulers," he said.Mahathir added that rulers were paid handsome pensions and should not be involved in businesses because government officers would find it hard to say "no" to them.
"There was also the belief that unscrupulous businessmen would make use of the sultans to get an advantage over others and to bypass rules and policies," he said.
No ISA, critics will go further
He warned that with the repeal of the internal security act, there was no longer a deterrent against insulting the rulers and people may decide to go "further" if the federal constitution is not respected.
He said these people might become more blatant by demanding amendment to the Federal Constitution, but did not specify what changes he was referring to.
"It is dangerous, therefore, for anyone, including royalty to disregard the limitations imposed by the constitution," he said.
Mahathir, who served as prime minister from 1981 to 2003, oversaw moves to curb the monarchs' powers by introducing a special court to hear charges against them.
Under his premiership, reforms were also introduced to have bills passed by Parliament to automatically become law within two months even if the monarchs refused to endorse them.
Mahathir said the changes were necessary as there was fear in Malaysia that the Agong will not comply with convention like in the UK where their sovereign would dutifully act on advice of their prime minister.
He reiterated that Malaysia was a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, stressing that the Federal Constitution has thus far served Malaysia well.
His remarks today is the second part of his blog posting when he first raised concern about the Johor bill.
However, in this posting, he made no mention of Johor.The Johor Housing and Real Property Board Bill 2014, which was passed today, will see the creation of the Johor Housing and Real Property Board to promote and undertake the development of housing and real estate property in Johor.
It initially granted the sultan executive power over the board, including appointing board members, determining their allowances, scrutinising the board's accounts as well as being empowered to dissolve the board.
This raised concern of a blurring between the monarchy and the executive and subsequently amendments were made to address the matter.
However, Johor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled denied that the Bill would grant the sultan executive powers as the state constitution binds the sultan to advice from the menteri besar.
The Council of the Royal Court echoes this, and assured that the sultan will never misuse his authority.
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