The Kelantan royal palace has revoked the datukship of Independent Pasir Mas MP and Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali.

According to a faxed statement from Kelantan government secretary Mohd Aiseri Alias, the palace also revoked the title carrying the term "datuk" of former state secretary Wan Hashim Wan Daud, as well as the titles of Tengku Mohamed Shafiei Tengku Ibrahim and Tengku Abu Bakar Tengku Mansor.

The statement did not state the reason for the revocations.

NONE When approached by reporters in Parliament this morning, Ibrahim confirmed that he was informed of the matter earlier this morning by the Kelantan government secretary Mohd Aiseri Alias of the revocation.

The title was bestowed on him by the then Kelantan sultan, Sultan Ismail Petra.

“I do not know the reasons, but on Oct 7, I had visited Sultan Ismail at Istana Mahkota. Since his illness and return to Kelantan, this was the first time I visited him. I am very close to Sultan Ismail.

“We spoke like normal and suddenly today my title was revoked,” said Ibrahim, adding that he and the former sultan are “friends”.

According to the Perkasa chief, he has been completely loyal to the current Kelantan Sultan, Tuanku Muhammad V.

“I maintain my stand, which is to uphold the institution of the rulers, because it forms the basis of the country’s constitution and is a part of the Malay culture to extol the sovereignty of the ruler. Ampun Tuanku ,” he said, adding that he was conferred the award in “2001 or 2002".

'I don't know the reason'

When pressed on whether his datukship was ‘collateral damage’ in the Kelantan royal tussle between Tuanku Muhammad V and his brother Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra, Ibrahim said that he doesn’t know.

“I don’t know the reason. I also got the news this morning. All I know is that I visited the previous Sultan as friends last Friday,” he said.

He also maintained that he was only speaking the truth when he told reporters camped outside the Istana Mahkota that the former sultan is sound and can speak well.

“The only thing is that he cannot walk and move his arms. But he still has a sound mind and can still talk,” he said.

When Tuanku Muhammad V was proclaimed as Sultan on Sept 13, the announcement was made pursuant to Article 23A of the Kelantan State Constitution - gazetted on July 22, 2010 - which covers the removal of a Sultan from the throne due to a major and serious handicap or illness.

However, Ibrahim maintained that he is still a ‘Datuk’ as he had been awarded datukships from both Selangor and Malacca and that the revocation from the Kelantan palace is ‘no big deal’.

“It is not a problem. Even (Gua Musang MP) Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was removed as the deputy chairperson in the state Council of Succession.

“I’m just a small fry, so it’s no problem for me,” he said.

Tengku Razaleigh is also the uncle to the former Raja Perempuan, Tengku Anis Tengku Abdul Hamid.

‘I should be awarded more for Perkasa’

When asked if the revocation had anything to do with his position as a chief of Malay rights NGO Perkasa, the defiant Ibrahim said that he should in fact be awarded more.

“If it has something to do with Perkasa, I should be given a higher award than (a Datukship) because Perkasa is defending the country’s basic constitution and the royal institution.

“I should be given more awards because of that, but this I think has nothing to do with that.

“Instead, it is purely what is happening in Kelantan,” he said.

The palace has also revoked the title carrying the term "datuk" of former state secretary Wan Hashim Wan Daud.

Wan Hashim, who also claimed to be a private secretary to the former sultan, was briefly detained for a few hours after he announced that Tuanku Ismail had stripped the then-Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra from his post as Regent of Kelantan back in March.

The announcement was later declared by the palace comptroller as "invalid" since it did not have the approval of the Council of Succession.

Additional reporting by Regina Lee and Joseph Sipalan Jr