Langkawi parliamentarian Nawawi Ahmad will only apologise over his perceived naming of the Agong as ‘Malaysian Official 1' (MO1) mentioned in a legal suit filed by United States authorities to seize 1MDB-linked assets, at the monarch’s behest, and only to him, reports Sinar Harian.

However, he hopes that he will not have to ask for pardon from the monarch he holds to be the number one official authority in the land.

“To apologise, I must have done something wrong. But in this case I am innocent, why should I apologise?

“But if it is to His Highness, whether or not I did something wrong, if summoned, I will obey and apologise. Because I place him as number one.

“But I hope that it will not happen,” he reportedly said.

Nawawi was commenting on urgings from the opposition for him to apologise for what he was accused of doing.

According to the report, when asked if he had received any letter from the office of the Agong, who is also Kedah sultan, requesting for an explanation over the matter, he said there were none.

“None... I think the palace did not misunderstand my remark (like some may have). But if they do (send a summons), I am wiling to ask for forgiveness from His Highness as I never meant to infer that he was (MO1 as mentioned) in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) suit.

“I was only enumerating on our constitution which has been around since 1957,” he said.

On Wednesday, Nawawi caused an uproar when he seemingly added a royal twist to the saga surrounding Malaysian Official 1, who was mentioned in the DOJ suits.

In a Facebook comment, which was edited four hours later, the Langkawi MP said based on the Federal Constitution, it is the Agong who is the highest official in the government.

“According to the Federal Constitution, Malaysia’s government was formed with three separate and independent entities, the judiciary headed by the chief justice, the legislative led by the parliament speaker, and the executive directed by the prime minister.

“All three entities are responsible to the Agong.

“Hence, according to the constitution, MO1 is the Agong,” he explained.

In the edited version, the last line in the comment was replaced with the sentence, “Hence, according to the constitution (Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) is not MO1, as he is either M02, M03, or MO4.”

Nawawi, however, claimed that his remark was misunderstood, claiming that he mentioned ‘Malaysian Official Number One’ instead of MO1. He also claimed that his comment was related to the Public Accounts Committee report on 1MDB and not to the DOJ filings.

Several police reports were lodged against Nawawi over the matter, and he has lodged a counter-police report of his own to clear his name over what he claimed is a misunderstanding.