KUALA LUMPUR: The monarchy has come under the scrutiny of the people as it failed to heed advise to stay away from politics and business, former Kempas assemblyman, Datuk Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid Tengku Abdul Hamid Jumat said.
He said while the Barisan Nasional (BN) government had been generous and sometimes overbearing in their respect and appreciation for the Palace, the outcome of the 14th General Election (GE14) was a wake up call for the monarchy and Rulers must conduct themselves accordingly as clearly enshrined in the Constitution.
The Umno politician from Johor said he had always advised the palace to stay away from politics and business to avoid the abuse of power and possible backlash by the people.
“Since 2015, in my capacity as a member of the state legislative assembly, I strongly advised the palace to stay away from politics and business to avoid the abuse of power and possible backlash by the Rakyat.
“Today as I foresaw, where my counsel was not taken under advisement, the monarchy is being scrutinised by the people,” he said in a statement.
Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid said every business transaction and decree upon civil servants that went beyond the boundaries of the law had come under scrutiny of the new government.
“I am sure when political muscle is flexed, even the civil servants will snitch on their royal master to save their backsides, not to mention those who executed their duties under duress who will be ever willing to confess,” he said, adding while the monarchy had the Malays to defend them to the hilt at one time, many are quite reluctant today after witnessing the failure of some Rulers in defending the Faith and the interest of their Malay subjects in favour of the Chinese.
He said notwithstanding whatever that had happened, it was important for the Malays to maintain the “symbol of our heritage” which is the system of the Constitutional Monarchy.
However he said individuals who abused the privileges of the throne - conveniently misinterpreting it for power, must be dealt with swiftly to save the Institution from the wrath of the people and imminent extinction.
“While the Barisan Nasional (BN) government was generous and sometimes overbearing in their respect and appreciation for the Palace, to the point of being bullied in some states causing our defeat, consider this a wake up call for the Rulers to conduct themselves accordingly as clearly enshrined in the Constitution,” he said.
Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid said GE14 had seen people putting BN in the sin bin, with the coalition punished to the extent it lost the government for the first time since its inception.
He said the majority had attributed BN’s loss to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal and also blatant excesses of Umno leaders.
“A good number have blamed it on the arrogance of Umno leaders which was displayed in their speeches and events.
“As I predicted and conveyed to the leadership well in advance, the dangerous desire to see the impossible has occured...the oldest party in the world has fallen and a 93-year old man is back into the office of Prime Minister,” he said.
Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid, who is vying for a supreme council seat in the coming Umno elections, however said while BN may have lost the show, Umno was still the single party with the most number of seats in Parliament.
“The fable which tells that the Malays had rejected Umno for the alternative Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), is just that - a fable.
“The fact is Umno has 41 more seats than PPBM and we also have 111 more seats than them in state assemblies.” he said, adding Umno was still the preferred party of the Malays and it was “far from dead and buried.”
He said the only reason PPBM was perceived to be the better Malay party was because the Prime Minister of the day was from the party.
Tengku Putra Haron Aminurrashid said it was clear the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was a minority Prime Minister, who could
be kicked out by the Pakatan coalition once he clears the messy details of sacking allies of the former “regime” and forming a fully functional government of the new Malaysia.
“After all that is done, his days as prime minister are numbered if he stays put in that coalition without a plan. But fortunately, Tun (Dr Mahathir) is never without one.
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