Constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari urged the Kelantan Council of Succession to exercise its powers to ease the palace crisis currently unfolding by stepping in to appoint a new Sultan.

    

“Like the council (of succession) set up by (second caliph of Islam) Umar al-Khattab, the Kelantan Council of Succession must make a move, lest the fluid situation would continue,” he told Malaysiakini yesterday.

NONE According to Abdul Aziz ( right ), the council has the constitutional right to appoint a new sultan if the current one is deemed to be “in no position to continue”.

“When it comes to (the appointment of the sultan), the principles of Islam applies. Remember, the sultan is the head of Islam in the state, so he must be fit; physically and mentally.”

“Given the confusion and the state of flux in Kelantan now, I think the council ought to step in to restore peace and order and certainty in the state,” he said.  

According to the Kelantan state constitution, the council consists of a president, deputy president, state mufti, state secretary, four members of the royal family and six to 12 royal subjects of Malay descent.

While the sultan’s eldest son Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra is first in line for succession, it is not an  automatic process. It is ultimately the council which decides who to appoint, confirm or remove as the ruler and heirs of the throne.

Royal rumble

The state’s palace intrigues began when Sultan Ismail Petra suffered a stroke in May 2009.

While in recovery, Tengku Faris was appointed Kelantan regent, and was subsequently embroiled in what appears to be a tussle for the throne with younger brother Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra.

NONE The younger prince and the consort Tengku Anis were allegedly roughed up by police earlier this month when they attempted to escort the sultan to Singapore to receive medical treatment.

Tengku Fakhry was detained by police while the sultan and his consort were brought to Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM), where his lawyers claim he was forcibly detained.

The sultan has since returned to the palace and is being treated by a panel of doctors.

One news report claimed the Sultan’s detention was related to an alleged plot to assassinate Tengku Faris, said to have been uncovered after the attempted murder of a palace guard a week earlier.

kelantan sultan succession dispute 090510 right tengku salwani almarhum left tengku rozan The controversy has divided the royal family, with the sultan’s eldest sister Tengku Merjan and the consort’s uncle Tengku Abdul Aziz Hamzah claiming that they were barred from visiting the sultan in HUSM.

Meanwhile another two of the sultan’s four elder sisters ( right ), Tengku Rozan and Tengku Salwani, have told the press last Sunday that it is the consort who was controlling access to her husband. 

‘Council must be pro-active’

According to the professor of law, the regent is “virtually the sultan now” and that the “council has got to act fast, whether to appoint a new sultan or confirm the regent (as the rightful successor)”.

Abdul Aziz concedes that the council is treading on virgin territory as they have never encountered such a situation before. He believes this could be the reason for the council’s hesitation.

Regardless, he said, the council must act in a “pro-active and creative” manner by using provisions in the state constitution.

“Some may feel that what I suggested is too drastic. But the problem is that what we are seeing now is just too much.”

“We do not want suspense and thriller to become the people’s diet,” he said, adding that the Kelantanese deserve better.

He also pointed out that the rakyat has a stake in the matter because it is taxpayers who are footing the sultan’s medical bills, which has been said to have gone up to millions of ringgit.

“A new sultan must be appointed.  Let the ailing ruler be allowed to have his normal life…lest the monarchy (as an) institution become a joke,” he concluded.