Apart from safeguarding the special position of the Malays and Islam, Perkasa has always prided itself in being a defender of the Malay rulers as well.

 
However, its president Ibrahim Ali failed to find his fangs with regard to the spat involving Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim and Umno minister Nazri Abdul Aziz.
 
 
Ibrahim (photo) chose to sidestep the matter by offering a rather cryptic response.
 
“It is not my place to comment about Nazri,” he replied when quizzed on the matter during a press conference.
 
“I am now as the same stature as (PAS president Abdul) Hadi (Awang),” he added without elaborating.
 
Prior to being posed with the question, Ibrahim was talking about how PAS posed a threat to Umno in terms of Malay votes following the Islamist party’s move to sever ties with DAP.
 
In the past, Perkasa had been vocal with regards to comments made against the rulers.
 
For example, during the Selangor menteri besar crisis last year, Perkasa Youth had condemned PKR lawmaker Gooi Hsiao Leung for what it claimed was his attempt to limit the powers of the sultan.
 
This was after Gooi proposed constitutional reforms in Selangor following the crisis.
 
Describing the MP’s stand as seditious, Perkasa Youth chief Irwan Fahmi Ideris had warned Gooi not to question the powers of the Malay monarchs.
 
“Don’t make seditious and irresponsible statements. Respect the Malay rulers,” he had said.
 
However, there has been pin drop silence from Perkasa leaders when Nazri recently warned the Johor prince not to meddle in politics or risk being whacked .
 
This was after Tunku Ibrahim mocked Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in a Facebook post.
 
Refusing to back down following a backlash, Nazri also reminded the prince that the latter is not an elected representative of the people.