Constitutional Monarchy - The 4th Branch of the Malaysian Constitution

This is just a free flow posting regarding our monarchy system in Malaysia. We have been made known - most of the time - of the 3 branches of the Federal Constitution which are the main pillars of our beloved nation, Malaysia. These are the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches of the Government[I am using a capital "G" for the 'government" as it represent "Government" of the Rakyat/people].

Most of the time, Malaysians tend to overlook that there is another branch of the Government of Malaysia that is our monarchy .... On this note, I am not going to trace back the alleged "asal usul hikayat" Raja-Raja Melayu who are said to be the descendants of Raja Suran and came down to earth from the "heaven" to Bukit Seguntang and so on .... Those are bed time time stories!!

In Malaysia, our monarchy system is basically based on the Westminster system but with a slight :modification" as we have 9 hereditary States Malay Rulers who would be alternately appointed as the Yang Di Pertuan Agung at the Federal level .... But this is not the focus of this posting, what I am going to touch is on the historical events of the "clash" between the Monarch and the Executive in Malaysia with the backdrop of the currently impasse in the Selangor MB crisis ....

Due to ours is a system of constitutional monarchy, the Malay Rulers have and are bound to act within the parameters of the Constitution be it the Federal Constitution or the State Constitution or what is commonly known as "Undang-Undang Tubuh Negeri". Despite this, there were instances where the Monarch had "flexed" its muscle especially when it comes to the appointment of the MB...

Most recent was the impasse in the appointment of MB of Terengganu in 2008 where UMNO (read as "the Executive") wanted to appoint Idris Jusoh as the MB however the Sultan of Terengganu more keen on Ahmad Said as the MB who later prevailed . In 2008 another "impasse" was also occurred when immediately after the PR swept into power in Perak, the then Royal Highness of Sultan of Perak summoned all parties of PR for a "meeting" in order to determine from which party the MB should be appointed from ... At the end of the day, a Malay MB in the name of YB Nizar from PAS was appointed as the Perak MB.

In both the Terengganu & Perak cases, the Monarch are said to exercise its "powers" within the constitution or at least within the permissible convention "reserved" for the Malay Rulers ... No issue to this as the matter was sort of "amicably settled" among the parties concerned.

The next two cases way back in early 1970s and 1980s which happened in Perak (ooh ooh again my home state!!!) and Pahang respectively nearly caused a real constitutional crisis ...

In 1974, the then Royal Highness of Perak wanted to "change" the MB of Perak, Ghazali Jawi after he was in office approximately for 2 years .... However, the Perak Sultan was advised that this could not be done as under the Constitution once appointed as MB and the said MB commanded the majority support of the ADUNs then he would remain as MB until the term is over. His Royal Highness had openly displayed his "displeasure" and vowed that he would not shave his "misai & jambang" until Ghazali Jawi did not step down as Perak MB. The matter was settled when Ghazali Jawi stepped down at the advise of the then UMNO President ...

In the 80s, there was one outspoken MB by the name of Rahim Bakar. Again for certain reason, HRH the Sultan of Pahang had a "cold war" and "tense" relationship with Rahim Bakar who was then replaced by an interim MB Rashid before the current PM, Najib Razak was appointed as Pahang MB ....

The currently impasse of the appointment of Selangor MB (at the time of this posting it is almost confirmed that Azmin Ali would be appointed as the MB to replace Khalid Ibrahim), again this 4th branch of the Constitution "flexed" its muscle. Despite the "clear support of the ADUNs majority" in Dr Wan Azizah as the MB, the palace had chosen Azmin Ali. This is very peculiar as the state constitution is quite clear on this issue unless all parties managed to mend their "differences" ...

It is peculiar as almost similar precedent had been set in Perak in 2009 (what? Perak again?) where HRH the Sultan of Perak then "exercised his constitutional power" in appointing Zambri as the new MB in replaced of Nizar on the ground that Zambri had the majority support of the ADUNs. HRH Sultan of Perak's royal decree was decided as "constitutionally right" by the apex of Malaysian Federal Court ... There you are two similar cases but with two different outcomes!!!!

I will part this posting by mentioning the "mother of all clashes" between the Executive and the Monarchy in Malaysia during the constitutional crisis in 1983 then the climax of it in 1993 led by Tun M pertaining to the Malay Rulers' power and their royal immunities ....  The 4th branch of the constitution in my view had been "literally bulldozed" and its pillar 'cracked" when the then Executives headed by Tun M. The printed and electronic media was used to the optimum to attack the Malay Rulers to the extent that nationwide rally in the name of "Semarak" campaign was carried out nation wide spearheaded by the then "Kementerian Penerangan" .......  There was no holds barred then and there was no enforcement of the Sedition Act 1948 then .... It is quite sad and unfortunate as this 4th branch of the constitution had been 'trampled" by the very own Malays which is not surprising as way back in 1946 the Malays had "practically blocked" the Malay Rulers at the Istana Kelantan in Kota Bahru preventing the Malay Rulers from endorsing the Malayan Union!!!!

Well, there you are, history will be the judge and till we meet again .....