Monday, March 24, 2008

Siapa Biadap Sekarang ?

Hantu Laut

When Lim Kit Siang told DAP assemblymen to boycott the swearing in ceremony of the Perak menteri besar they called him "biadap" (disrespectful).Although Kit Siang later apologised to the Sultan and the Regent, UMNO insisted he makes a public apology.

The crisis in Trengganu is set for a showdown between the Prime Minister and the Sultan, who is also the Agong, supreme ruler of the nation, nominated once in every five years on rotational basis by the Ruler's Council.

The palace have appointed Ahmad Said as the new Menteri Besar of Trengganu and rejected PM Abdullah's choice of Idris Jusoh who purportedly enjoys majority support of the state assemblymen.

Abdullah has sent directives to all UMNO assemblymen not to attend the swearing in ceremony at the palace and warned Ahmad Said not to accept the appointment and that he would be sacked from the party if he does. The crisis deepens, Ahmad Said accepted the appointment and was sacked. Is Abdullah "biadap" ? I would say no.

It depends.For the man in the street Abdullah would be seen as "biadap" but for those who understands the constitution of the state and the Malaysian constitution he is not.

The sultan has erred in his judgment by appointing a menteri besar of his own choice.
Although there are provisions in the state constitution which allows him to exercise such rights, it must be done in good faith.

It was without any doubt that Idris Jusoh, appointed by the PM enjoys the support of the majority and would, therefore, by letter of the constitution be the menteri besar.

Support of the majority has nothing to do with those of UMNO divisions in the state.Even if he gets zero support from all the divisions and gets majority support from the state assemblymen, constitutionally he is still entitled to be menteri besar.

If the Sultan insisted on swearing in Ahamd Said, legally he becomes the Menteri Besar until he goes to the assembly and is removed by "vote of no confidence". A new menteri besar supported by majority members of the house would have to be sworn in. If the house is divided than a fresh state election would be called.

Constitutional monarchs should stay within their ceremonial status and play that role and not that of an absolute monarch. An absolute monarch has no constitution or body of law above him.

Of course Abdullah could have erred on the side of caution, be more discreet and as a show of respect just let the Sultan appoint the menteri besar with out any confrontation and later remove him by vote of no confidence. He would than not be seen as "biadap".

13 comments:

Monsterball said...

Constitutionaly, I agree that the Sultan should not be interfering in this case.

I quote Schedule 8 clause 2-2-a of the Constitution of Malaysia -
"...Ruler shall first appoint as Menteri Besar...who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly"

That Idris Jusoh he smells real bad (figuratively speaking)has no bearing on it.

Politically, I'm perfectly happy with any incident which embarrasses UMNO and weakens its standing.

UMNO is caught in a propaganda trap of its own making, after it used the full resources of the Mainstream media to lambast Lim Kit Siang.

Anonymous said...

HL,

You are absolutely right.
However, as pointed out by kittykat46, when Lim Kit Siang wanted the Perak Assemblymen to boycott the swearing-in ceremony, he was labelled as "biadap". The Utusan Malaysia ran front page headlines "shooting" at LKS. Calling him "biadap", etc, etc.
Even after LKS apologied, UMNO had a Demonstration in Perak (not our culture!) to demand he make a Public Apology!
So, although Bodowhi is in the right, he has to be labelled as "biadap" by UMNO & the one-sided BN Media.
As the Bible says..."you see the splinter in your brother's eyes, but you don't see the beam in your own eyes"!
It's "Divine Intervention" if you ask me!

Anonymous said...

HL,

As you said, Bodowhi could have done it the discreet way by using his brains but either he is still sleeping or his advisers (well more like son-in-law) must have been jumping on him screaming for blood so he "goofed" up again!
Everyone in Terengganu knows Idris Jusoh is a stooge of KJ & Patrick Badawi (as TDM) calls him!

chocoholic said...

I feel that Pak Lah is in the wrong. Jusoh was not picked by the people to be MB; he was picked by Pak Lah. And the Palace is morally responsible for the welfare of the people of the state. I salute the Ruler for his bravery, decency and hope that he stands fast by the decision. After all, a 'watikah' can only be issued by ROYALTY so Pak Lah saying that he has already given 'watikah' to Jusoh is just plain delusion of grandeur.

Tekkaus said...

IMHO, The Sultan should not had gone against choosing Idris. No disrespect, but it's Idris who is going to run the state and not the Sultan. So, Idris who is backed by 22 reps should have been chosen. It's the 22 reps who will be working for Idris.

Tekkaus said...

Anyway, I hope that the Sultan did not do so for showing his power. Neither way, I did not hope to see the latest saga turn ugly! Two thumbs down to both the Sultan and UMNO! Do what is best for the people. Don't flaunt your power remember that! Sultan and reps are nothing if there are no people who support them!

AdrianAndrew said...

Hypothetically, if MB Ahmad Said had 8 supporters from UMNO (not publically supporting him but "told" the Sultan) and with the 8 PAS DUN supporting him................... Maybe the Sultan did not erred in his judgment by appointing a menteri besar of his own choice!

gram.kong said...

SM,
Both Abdullah and the Sultan should respect the constitution not their own selfish agenda.

gram.kong said...

SM,
As I have always said it is hypocrisy and double standard with them.They can do, others can't.

Now there is danger of their MPs crossing over to BA, they want to introduce anti-hopping law.When PBS introduced the law in Sabah they went to court to repel it saying it is against the Federal Constitution.

Why do you think they are losing support,people are just fed up.

gram.kong said...

christopher,

I think the Sultan is just as fed up as the people, that's why he took the action, which is unconstitutional.

The people have spoken through the ballot boxes.

gram.kong said...

Ph,

If he has the majority he will survive, if not they will throw him out. We will have to wait and see what happen next.

Anonymous said...

HL,

This situation has really taken on "soap-opera" porpotions!
I see that Datuk Ahmad Said has assumed duties of MB of Terengganu alreday! I thought he was sacked from UMNO? So it was just a "threat" of being sacked then?
Looks like he has his supporters also.
I don't see how Pak Lah can back-down now. If he does he will lose face "big-time" & then it will be only a matter of time before he's "kicked-out".
HRH will not back down either as he will lose face. HRH has 2 things going for him 1/ Pal Lah's weakened position 2/ the Rakyat's support for the Royalty.
Looks like a "By-Election" may be on the cards after all for Terengganu. If that happens, I think UMNO is going to pay dearly!

gram.kong said...

SM,
As long as the 22 assemblymen are with PAk Lah ,Ahmad Said will be thrown out when the state assembly convenes.

It appears Ahmad Said has not been sack from UMNO yet.If he is sacked, I think he may join PAS.

If the Sultan dissolves the assembly and call for fresh election, it will be bad news for UMNO.