Has Tony Pua been seditious by querying intervention of royalties in politics, election campaigns?
THAT some royalties have been outspoken on political and policy matters at the Federal government level in recent times have made some learned citizens feeling uneasy or wondering if the lines have been blurred given the country’s stature as a constitutional monarchy whereby
In the Malaysian context, constitutional monarchy is taken to mean that the country is governed by an elected Parliament while the King a.k.a. the Yang di-Pertuan Agong serves as “official Head of State”.
His powers are defined and strictly limited by the Federal Constitution which thus requires him to act on the advice of the Prime Minister.
The latest example which has triggered a query from vocal DAP disciplinary committee chairman Tony Pua is the manner Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim countered Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that his state is not plagued by financial leakages but rather a revenue drain by Putrajaya.
Tony Pua
on SundayQuestion:
When senior members of the Royalty get openly involved directly (or even indirectly) with politics and political campaign, demonstrating bias and partiality, are they then not subjecting themselves to rebuttals and retorts?
In that case, are these Royalty members above reproach or debate?
...See more“When senior members of the royalty get openly involved directly (or even indirectly) with politics and political campaign – demonstrating bias and partiality – are they then not subjecting themselves to rebuttals and retorts?” penned the three-term DAP lawmaker (two-term Petaling Jaya Utara and one-term Damansara) in a Facebook post.
“In that case, are these royalty members above reproach or debate? Will the Sedition Act still apply (on Pua)?”
‘Royalties must be sporting’
Responding to PMX’s remark that Johor is a wealthy state facing a leakage problem, Tunku Ismail has over the weekend (June 21) called on the federal government to return at least a quarter of the revenue collected from the state.
The Crown Prince further contended that Johor contributes more than RM40 bil annually to the federal government but receives only about RM2 bil to RM3 bil meet the needs of Johor’s nearly five million residents.
Editor’s Note: In painting” a true picture” the following day (June 22), PMX who is also the Finance Miniter claimed that Johor received more federal funding than what it contributed in the past three years.
DYAM Tunku Mahkota Ismail, Pemangku Sultan Johor terima mengadap YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Perdana Menteri.
“Terima kasih atas keperihatinan YAB Perdana Menteri di atas perhubungan erat di antara Kerajaan Persekutuan dan Negeri Johor. Saya turut bertukar pandangan dengan Perdana Menteri berhubung kerajaan Persekutuan harus sentiasa komited dengan pembangunan Negeri Johor demi kesejahteraan rakyat Johor.” titah Baginda.
Pertemuan YAB Perdana Menteri bersama Pemangku Sultan...
See more
Based on records of the Finance Ministry, the southern state contributed about RM14 bil in revenue to federal coffers between 2023 and 2025 but received RM16 bil from the federal government through various projects, operating allocations and programmes, according to PMX.
Well, this is certainly not the first and will not be the last time Pua be posing a question that borders 3R (race, religion, royalty) breaches.
As Malaysiakini succinctly puts it, the DAP loyalist no stranger to ruffling royal feathers, having recently come under police investigation after a deluge of reports were lodged against him for stating that the constitutional system binds Malaysian monarchs, hence they should not issue binding decrees to legislate all aspects of people’s lives.
Recount that his insinuation that the decree of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah to prohibit pig farming in Selangor as having fallen outside the realm of the Federal Constitution has landed Pua in hot soup with some 120 police reports lodged against him.
His statement came in the wake of the Selangor ruler telling DAP Seri Kembangan state assemblywoman Wong Siew Ki and former party stalwart Ronnie Liu to visit Dataran Selangor and understand the principles of the Rukun Negara displayed on the monument plaque there.
Whether Pua truly has “nine lives of the feline” for daringly defending the constitutional rights of lay Malaysians or otherwise by subjecting himself to be called “biadap” or “derhaka”, the truth is that royalties have to be sporting enough if they wish to participate in politics whether directly or indirectly.
“They must be prepared to listen or ready for backlash against their opinion as nowadays the rakyat are more educated on certain issues,” remarked one commenter to Pua’s FB post.
“It’ll be seen differently if they give impartial advice and non-partisan and the rakyat should take heed. Tony said the right thing but the hardest as it could be seen and interpreted differently.” – June 24, 2026
***
As the late RPK told me, when "They" wanna git ya, "They" will 😂😂😂😈
No comments:
Post a Comment