VOXPOP 'Zakat money collection amounts to a few hundred million ringgit a year in Selangor, and the sultan wants it unaudited?'

Don: Dr M's way could have curbed royal intervention

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: The Pakatan Rakyat state government has two options.

It can table a new bill to repeal all the amendments made by the previous bill that was presented directly by the sultan to the Selangor Legislative Assembly without the consent and approval of the state government, in which case, the sultan will refuse to assent to the new bill but it does not matter since it will become law after 30 days.

But such an action will provoke a crisis with the palace which Umno wants in order to get Malay/Muslim votes come GE13.

The better option would be for the Pakatan to take the matter to the court of public opinion among the Malay/Muslim voters and argue that Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) is now beyond the control and oversight of the state government and only Allah SWT knows how the zakat (religious tithe) money is going to be spent since there is no need for any external auditing or reporting and even record keeping with regard to Mais.

Let the voters decide come GE13. If the Pakatan gets its two-thirds majority then it can repeal these unconstitutional and illegal amendments.

DNA: Zakat money collection amounts to a few hundred million ringgit a year in Selangor, and the sultan wants it unaudited?

Does the sultan know what he did is not correct? Was he misled by some idiots who have an interest in this zakat collection? I am very disturbed over this issue.

Hang Babeuf: This quite remarkable, and ominous. If this move stands and goes unchallenged, then this stratagem will become the standard recourse in the post-2008 royal-led re-assertion of Malay primacy and ascendancy (ketuanan Melayu).

It will be available for wholesale use in the delegitimisation of any and all of the impending political changes heralded by the 2008 GE that the ‘old guard' may find unpalatable.

The ‘sovereignty' of the Malay rulers, projected in the form of their sole and exclusive responsibility in the management of Islam, will quickly prove a ‘magical instrument' - a sword that nobody will dare oppose.

Joe Lee: Thank you, Professor Abdul Aziz Bari. Your forthrightness and integrity are very admirable, considering that the Umno-compromised press and judiciary are as quiet as mice on this.

Never mind - once we have a Pakatan government, we'll roll back all this blatantly feudal stuff.

The sultans will have to understand that sovereignty actually lies in the will of the people, through the ballot box. Their role is to be a 'constitutional monarch' - nothing more, nothing less.

And the sultans shall defer to what the duly elected government of the day decides, not the other way round. There are no two ways about it.

We are either a democracy or we are a feudal entity from 500 years ago. The choice is clear.

Borg Kinaulu: The Selangor government has made a serious mistake. Pakatan should have stood firm on its principles and not compromise or try to beat BN to see who is more ‘ultra' - i.e. who is the champion for race and religion.

Pakatan is correct in refusing to submit to race-based demands by certain parties. PKR is right to insist that hudud has no place in our secular constitution, but why is it so soft when it comes to the sultans?

The roles of the royals under the constitutions are figurative. Their power is limited to fringe matters.

Is PKR admitting that its leaders lack the charisma of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to bring the people behind them to put the royals in their respective places?

People first. The sultans are not even second, or third. Playing by Umno's rules is plain stupid.

No settlement for Mkini vs Taib, trial to proceed

Fear God Not Man: The MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) should have earlier come up with their findings on where and how Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud got all his wealth from?

Why is MACC keeping quiet?

Wira: I cannot understand all this. Why should the defendant ( Malaysiakini ) begin the trial first? Is the plaintiff (Taib Mahmud) hoping that the defendant may, in the process, incriminate itself?

Keturunan Malaysia: Yes Wira, if you sue someone, it is for you to begin proving your case first and not for the defendant to begin defending first. To defend against what - the word ‘sue'?

Stand firm, Malaysiakini. Malaysians are forever watching. We have learned to smell a rat if one is running around and about.

Nicole: It is showtime.

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