Defending royalty

“What he did was not merely insubordination to the crown, but for many it was derhaka — which doesn’t have a literal English translation because ‘treason’ doesn’t quite capture it”

Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin, on embattled Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin’s refusal to resign, as per Sultan Azlan Shah’s directive. Khairy equated violating the ruler’s wishes with violating “the spirit and basis of our constitutional monarchy”. (Source: Khairy: Sultan rules all, The Nut Graph, 20 Feb 2009)

“Surely you can’t question the wisdom of Sultan Azlan Shah. His decision has to be respected. If you look at it from the point of royal customs (adat istiadat), this certainly can be seen as tainting the name of the sultan and an act of treason.”

Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, commenting on DAP chairperson Karpal Singh’s suggestion that legal action can be taken against Sultan Azlan Shah for not dissolving the Perak state assembly. (Source: It’s treason, says Muhyiddin, The Star, 8 Feb 2009)

“It is also an insult to the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah. It’s like resorting to the law of the jungle.”

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, commenting on Perak Speaker V Sivakumar’s convening of the state assembly under a rain tree. She also said the “uncivilised act” was proof that the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had “no respect” for the assembly as a “noble institution”. (Source: Perak Assembly’s Emergency Session Uncivilised: Azalina, Bernama, 3 March 2009)

(Corrected)

“The statement by Mohammad Nizar was just to confuse the people, to disturb political stability in the state, and to insult and challenge the royal institution and power of the Perak Sultan.”

Barisan Nasional-installed Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, who maintained that his PR rival, Mohammad Nizar, had no right to seek consent from Sultan Azlan Shah to dissolve the state assembly. (Source: Mohammad Nizar Has No Right, Says Zambry, Bernama, 8 March 2009)

“They know that what they did was without royal consent, and even the court has decided on the position. Their actions clearly show their contempt for the sultan and the royal institution.”

Zambry again, commenting on the PR naming the rain tree under which the state assembly sat as a “Tree of Democracy”. He said that he considered the tree a symbol of treason. (Source: Zambry ‘axes’ Pakatan’s tree, The Star, 10 March 2009)

“Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim has ‘gone overboard and shown disrespect’ to the monarch by questioning the right of the ruler in the appointment of the mentri besar.”

The Raja of Perlis’s granduncle, Syed Sofian Jamalullail. He was commenting on Shahidan’s refusal to accept the Perlis sultan’s appointment of Umno’s Datuk Md Isa Sabu as the state’s menteri besar (MB). Shahidan, the former Perlis MB who is also from Umno, was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s choice to lead the state after the 8 March 2008 general election. (Source: Shahidan has ‘gone overboard’, The Star, 17 March 2008)