THE GUN POINTS BACK AT ANWAR – UMNO SPIN OR WITH HELP FROM UMNO OR TOGETHER WITH UMNO? EX-TOP EDITOR QUESTIONS ‘HAND-KISSING’ ANWAR’S 2 NAUGHTY STATEMENTS, WONDERS WHY AGONG NEEDS ‘ASSURING’ WHEN RM256MIL ALREADY SPENT FOR HIS COMFORT DESPITE HIS SINGLE STATUS – A SUM ORDINARY M’SIAN FAMILIES CAN ONLY DREAM OF

THE New Straits Times reported in its online edition today that the de facto leader of the PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had been seeking audiences with the Malay rulers to assure them that the new government respects the royal institution.

Since the annihilation of its master, the United Malay National Organisation (Umno), the NST has been diligently reporting government news albeit with its own sinister twist.

It reported that Anwar had wanted to assure the rulers that Pakatan Harapan (PH) is not being controlled by the Chinese-majority DAP as claimed by Umno and Barisan Nasional in the run-up to last month’s general election.

Two very loaded and naughty statements – “Anwar assuring the rulers” and “PH not being controlled by the Chinese-majority DAP”.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim having an audience with the Sultan of Johor

It reported Anwar saying: “I told them not to worry because the government was not under DAP, and there were no attempts to eliminate the power of the rulers.”

What was even more sinister was the fact that the NST sourced this report from the newly re-launched The Malaysian Insight (TMI) news portal.

According to the NST report (quoting the TMI), Anwar said so in a speech to members of the Malaysian Muslim Youth Association (Abim) at their headquarters in Kajang on Saturday night.

Another proof of the NST’s sinister motive – reporting news that happened almost two days earlier and quoting a news portal.

But it is also possible that the NST has become so unprofessional and inefficient that it is two days late in reporting news or had missed the event altogether.

The NST

I stopped reading the NST several years ago so I don’t know much about the promptness and quality of its reporting. Only after the inauguration of the new PH government that its reporters were supposedly told that they are free to report what they see fit.

The PH victory has done some good to the NST journalism.

But I don’t give much credence to the freeing of its editorial stance because at the helm are the same editors who turned the paper into the Völkischer Beobachter of Umno.

The Völkischer Beobachter (The Racial Observer) was the mouthpiece of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party or the Nazi Party.

The NST quoted TMI quoting Anwar saying: “The constitutional monarch will not lose power. I explained all this to them. My intention when I met them was clear, that is, to help explain the PH government’s policies to the rulers.”

According to report quoted by the NST, Anwar’s royal audiences – with the Agong, the Agong’s mama and several Sultans – had prompted rumours that he was undermining the Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, by forging a pact with the rulers.

The Rulers, according to the report-upon-report, have a testy relationship with the PM.

If the report is worth anything, my take on it is this: While Dr Mahathir runs the country as the Prime Minister, Anwar appears to be acting or behaving like a political commissar.

In the communist system, a political commissar is many times more powerful than a battalion of soldiers.

The Rulers

I wouldn’t dare say that the Rulers are so insecure these days about their position that they need to be assured and comforted.

On the contrary I think the Rulers are as confident and assured as ever before. Why shouldn’t they? They are guaranteed by the Constitution, lavishly provided for, wealthy and even Anwar kissed their hands!

Istana Negar: The King and Rulers are well provided for.

For 16 months to April this year, a total of RM256.9 million had been allocated to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for purposes of accommodation, residence and palace, personal items, aircraft and transportation, training and escort equipment, clothing and ceremonial items, gifts and souvenirs, overseas visits and salaries of palace staff.

Of course like everybody and everything else in this country including the Bangladeshis, the mainland Chinese, the Thais and the Wak Jawa, they have to respect the Constitution for it is supreme. Nobody, not even the dewa dari kayangan, is above the law!

It is this supreme law that gives soul and form to the royal institution. It is this supreme law that gives birth to the Supreme King – the Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

In the legal parlance, the Agong and all of us are the creatures of the constitution.

The Constitution that guarantees the right of the homeless pauper who languishes in the back lane of Chow Kit also guarantees the right of the King who lives in the gleaming RM650-million Istana Negara.

But unlike the pauper who evokes God’s name to earn sympathy of the passers-by, the Agong evokes God’s name in his oath of office.

“In the Name of God, Most Gracious and Most Merciful:
We, ….., as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, are truly grateful to God the Almighty, the Blessed, because of this election to the honourable office of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has happened because of His Benevolent Grace. Therefore, we shall justly and faithfully perform our (my) duties in the administration of the nation of Malaysia, in accordance to its laws and its sacred constitution, shall protect the Islamic religion at all times as mandated, and shall duly fulfil the rules of law and order and promote good governance in our country.”

In the oath that the King took in the presence of the holy Quran, he acknowledged that the constitution is sacred. He promised to protect the Islamic religion and promote good governance.

The Constitution is so thorough that it even makes provision for the post of the Raja Permaisuri Agong.

Article 32 (2) of the Constitution states: “The Consort of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (to be called the Raja Permaisuri Agong) shall take precedence next after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong over all other persons in the Federation.”

Well, it is only natural that when there is a King, there shall be a Queen.

To further protect the royal institution, the Constitution was amended in 1993 whereby the immunity of the Rulers was clarified. The Rulers are protected from prosecution and liability in the performance of their official duties.

But they were no longer immune to prosecution in the conduct of their personal affairs like cheating their business partners or roughing up a hockey coach.

Even so, in recognition of their special position, they will not be tried in the ordinary court of law. A special “royal court” would be instituted to try them.

Since then, one libel suit had been brought against a Malaysian ruler – the Sultan of Pahang – and was tried by the Special Court of Malaysia.

However, the trial did proceed when the court ruled that a foreigner could not bring a suit against Malay rulers. The plaintiff was a Singapore businesswoman.

In conclusion, our CONSTITUTIONAL monarch has nothing to fear if they understand their special position and stick to their duties as spelt out by the Constitution.

The people expect them to be the embodiment of all things good and holy. But the question is: Are they?

– http://kadirjasin.blogspot.com