Let’s stop using the palace to get sympathy for our political grievances. Political parties are quick to align themselves with the palace to gain support or to show their displeasure over issues knowing that feudal minds could easily be manipulated.

Just after the March 8 general elections, there was some uproar in Kuala Terengganu and then in Perlis. And now it has happened in Perak. Is there any difference to all these incidences? Or is it a case of ‘If it favours me, then I am right; if it doesn’t favour me then it’s not right’?

This stance is bringing a bad image to the country and denotes a lack of maturity in politics. The actions by some groups to drag the palace into their political clamour are oftentimes disliked by the electorate. Only God knows how sincere or insincere these people are when they are seen carrying banners and shouting slogans in support of the palace.

It is best that the palace be left alone to protect the sanctity of our constitution. All Malaysians revere their rulers as symbols of our tradition and identity. This should be preserved and the palace should always be apolitical to win the hearts of its subjects.

Let the elected government by the people run the states and the country. If need be, the palace could play a neutral role in an advisory capacity. In a democracy that has a constitutional monarchy system, it is clearly stated in the constitution that the people have the right to choose their political leaders, and the monarchy plays a neutral role.

The issue facing Perak now has nothing to do with people showing their disrespect for the royalty. It is definitely not. If the transition of government had been done with some constitutional decorum, the commoners could have accepted it.

The respect for the rulers has been there since before independence. The immunity against them was constitutionalised in 1993 by the Barisan Nasional government. Even after 1993, the rulers are still respected by the people.

The media should not drum up the issue just to paint certain groups as ‘traitors’ and claim that it is seditious to question the constitution. This is bad publicity as it has backfired terribly.

The sympathy now is for the vanquished in Perak. There were also the vanquished in Perlis and Terengganu. Unfortunately, there are some groups who are manipulating this issue for political gain.

Using the palace seems to be the order of the day for some political parties to gain support from the people or create negative feelings against other political parties.

The people of this country are wise enough to differentiate between loyalty and disloyalty. The people now are more educated and they can think out of the box. They need not be tutored by the media or some opportunistic politicians.

All Malaysians cherish their rulers and history has acknowledged fact that the sultanate system here has been there for the past 500 years. This is a tradition that every Malaysian has treasured.

As long as the monarchy keep to their vested decorum, they will forever be loved by the people.