YOURSAY ‘The day of reckoning will soon come to pass when the race is finally run.’

'Sorry your highness, I was following constitution'

Pemerhati: According to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, ever since 1957, Umno has submitted to the royalty one state assemblyperson or parliamentarian for the chief minister’s, menteri besar’s or prime minister’s post.

The Selangor sultan also did not create a fuss when, despite the sultan wanting multiple names in 2013, Pakatan Rakyat only submitted a single name for the MB’s post.

So why is the sultan now acting against the constitution and the tradition that has been followed for the past 57 years by a multitude of Yang di-Pertuan Agong and sultan.

The Selangor sultan would only be bold enough to act unconstitutionally if he has the encouragement and support of someone very powerful. That can only be Umno and PM Najib Abdul Razak.

Hang Babeuf: Even if one were to concede that the sultan is “legally entitled” to consider names other than the one or those submitted to him by the leader of the majority in the State Assembly, this can only mean that DYMM is entitled on his own initiative to look down the list of members of the state assembly, see who is on it, pick somebody whom he finds congenial, offer that person a commission to form a government, and ask him/her to test on the floor of the House whether s/he enjoys or can muster majority support.

It cannot mean that the sultan is empowered to “direct” the leadership of the majority of the people’s elected representatives to provide him with more names than he has been offered - and then to accuse the majority party or its leaders of “derhaka” for not doing so. Absurd! Constitutionally jahil (unaware)!

In other words, this is an absolutely untoward and unwarranted bid to expand royal power: to enlarge the scope for independent political action by the sultan - not as an arbiter but as an independent actor with an entitlement to pursue his own political agenda.

The awful thing is that, with the DAP’s apologetic backdown , this ploy has succeeded.

Rajakera: There is no need to waste time on this matter. Just take constitutional expert Abdul Aziz Bari’s advice:

"The law is what used to be convention in the United Kingdom but here in Malaysia it has become law by virtue of it being codified in the constitutional provisions.

"Those days, when the sultan could vet and scrutinise the MB's suitability, qualifications and others, are no more. It is now the business of the legislature, namely the Parliament or state legislative assembly. The law and practice in Malaysia does not approve what was done by the palace today."

Sadly, AzizBari asserted that "even if the sultan does wrong, there is nothing that can be done about it as he cannot be taken to court, unlike governors, but he will go down in history books and may not be judged favourably".

And, may I add, that the sultan will lose a lot of respect from his rakyat who, so far, love him dearly.

ConstitutionIsSupreme: A statemanly apology from Anwar that comes from his heart to His Royal Highness (HRH); while explaining why he did it.

I believe HRH will have the wisdom to differentiate between faithful defender of constitutional monarchy and the self-interest seeker.

Anticonmen: It's clear that Umno controls every institution. Now Najib will say that Anwar Ibrahim was the one behind the curtailment of the powers of the monarchy in 1983 and 1993.

Let's see how, and in which way, is the mud being slung. It's fun to see these two "one time comrades-in-arms in disrespecting the 1957 constitution" engaging in pushing blame.

CQ Muar: What do you expect from a prime minister who's a seasoned and an all-round liar? Promised all voters during his GE13 campaigns on numerous issues, only to thwart them until today, without batting an eyelid.

Najib could feign ignorance and ignore all those allegations and criticisms about his involvement in the Scorpene and Altantuya scandals, excessive squandering of government funds at expense of taxpayers, etc, etc. So, what's the big deal about more lies?

With the Umno-led government, police, judges and all those cronies behind, he's as good as the untouchable. However, everything has a limit - including God's patience.

The day of reckoning will soon come to pass when the race is finally run; and all those guilty will have to pay the price. "As PM, Najib should be honest," Anwar lamented. Wait till the Sun rises in the West.

SultanMydin: Why don't we revert to the good old days prior to independence when the state rulers have the absolute power over his subjects (although there were the British Residents or Advisers watching over their shoulders making sure they toe the line).

Disband all political parties and get rid of the politically corrupt Election Commission as there will be no more elections as we know but leave it to the respective rulers to name his MB and his state cabinet.

Likewise, the DYMM YDP Agong appoints whoever he thinks is suitable as the PM of the country and his federal cabinet. We could follow the Brunei model, can't we?

That would make Perkasa, Isma and others (pejuang bangsa Melayu dan Islam) more than happy as their twin objectives would be met.

Fair Play: I must give credit to Anwar. His apology for upsetting HRH Sultan of Selangor was premised on the fact that he was only upholding the state constitution, and by extension, the royalty.

The PM shot himself in the foot by playing to the gallery as Anwar had rightly pointed out it was Umno that supported the constitutional amendments in 1983 and 1993 that curtailed the power of the monarchy.

Isana: The ball is now back at the sultan's feet. Will the sultan get his way, or the rakyat through the democratic process, andwith the state constitution coming out tops?

'Anwar takes the difficult but principled stand'

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