There is no law which dictates that insulting the royal institution is an attempt to weaken the military as well.

As such, it was a mere interpretation on the part of Armed Forces chief Zulkifeli Mohd Zin when he made such a statement, retired admiral Mohamad Imran Abdul Hamid said today.

Mohamad Imran, who is Lumut MP, said Zulkifeli needed to justify his statement with a particular law when he said so.

"If those who insult the royal institution also attempt to weaken the military, then the military can take legal action against such people," the PKR MP told Malaysiakini .

Zulkifeli (right) said on Tuesday that any insinuation or insult against the royal institutions were an attempt to weaken the military itself.

He said this when asked to comment on people who were questioning the Selangor sultan’s decisions in relation to the ongoing menteri besar crisis.

Meanwhile, retired lieutenant-colonel Mohd Nazari Mokhtar, who leads the pro-Pakatan Rakyat NGO Persatuan Kebajikan Rangkaian Bekas Angkatan Tentera (Kerabat), said that as the armed forces chief, Zulkifely should not have made such a “harsh” statement.

Admitting that the military must conform to the spirit of upholding the royal institution, Nazari said, however, that one has to be fair when making statements.

"He (Zulkifeli) should not make statements that benefit one side only.

"The statement he made was as if people are uprising against the sultan, when in fact the crisis is just a matter of administration," Nazari said.

Expressing confidence that the people respected the sultan’s decisions, he pointed out how there had been no obvious protest against the sultan’s decisions.

"There are no banners protesting against the sultan’s decisions, are there?" he asked.

For military chief, two plus two equals five