Negeri Sembilan's adat and royal crisis was inherited, Ismail Lasim says

SEREMBAN: Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Ismail Lasim has traced the crisis surrounding the state's customary and royal institutions to the previous administration's failure to complete processes required under the Laws of the Constitution of Negeri Sembilan 1959.

Speaking at a news conference with state executive councillors at a hotel in Seremban on Thursday, he said the failure of the menteri besar at the time to carry out his responsibilities under the state constitution was what began the crisis.

"This includes the refusal to complete processes that should have been carried out, which has caused this crisis to drag on and grow worse," he said.

Ismail did not name anyone. The previous administration was led by Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun, who held the post until August.

Rejecting the confrontation framing

Ismail said the real question in the crisis was a dispute over process, jurisdiction and the interpretation of actions taken by the customary institutions involved, rather than a confrontation between the state government and the Ruler.

"A narrative like this does not help efforts to calm the situation, and the question that needs resolving is the dispute over process, jurisdiction and interpretation of the actions of the customary institutions concerned," he said.

Those matters, he said, should be settled through the channels provided by adat and the state constitution, "not through trading accusations in public".

The state government, he added, had no intention of deciding on behalf of those institutions.

Power rests with the Undang Yang Empat

Ismail said the Yang di-Pertuan Besar is not chosen by the menteri besar or the state government, and that the power rests with the Undang Yang Empat under the state constitution.

It was inaccurate, he said, to portray the menteri besar or the exco as holding authority over matters of succession, and the state government had never claimed such authority.

He also said his government had been given a two-thirds mandate by voters, and described administrative stability as a responsibility it had to protect.

Outside parties, he said, should not use the crisis over adat and the royal institution as grounds to disrupt a lawful state government.

Where others stand

Ismail's account sits against positions taken by several parties over the past week.

The Dewan Keadilan dan Undang said on September 17 that Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir remained the lawful Yang di-Pertuan Besar and that the state executive council had no jurisdiction to determine the validity of the proclamation.

The Attorney General's Chambers said the same day that the April 19 proclamation concerning the removal was invalid because it did not meet the mandatory requirements of Article 10 of the state constitution.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on September 23 called the moves by the menteri besar and the exco rude and uncivilised. Ismail said that rebuke was possibly based on incomplete information.

Thursday's news conference was held on the day the revocation of the 10 exco appointments by Tuanku Muhriz was gazetted, with effect from September 20. Ismail maintains that the line-up remains valid.