A gentlemen would not wait to be asked before he apologises for any wrong he has done, former Wanita Umno member Anina Saadudin told Langkawi parliamentarian Nawawi Ahmad.

“An honest and well-mannered man will not wait to be asked to apologise before doing so. For that (waiting to be asked to apologise) is a mark of arrogance.

“He should be aware that he had described the Agong as Malaysian Official 1 (MO1), an individual implicated in the biggest financial crime in the world to date,” Anina told Malaysiakini.

She was responding to Nawawi, who was reported to have said that he will only apologise over his perceived naming of the Agong as ‘Malaysian Official 1' mentioned in a legal suit filed by United States authorities to seize 1MDB-linked assets, at the monarch’s behest.

“Nawawi should realise that he is talking about MO1 in the context of the US Department of Justice (forfeiture suits seeking to seize assets linked to 1MDB).

“And no matter what, MO1 is not the Agong,” stressed Anina.

She went on to lambast the Langkawi MP for what she claimed is akin to dragging the dignity of the Agong through the mud just for his own purposes.

“If Nawawi can sacrifice (the dignity of) the Agong for his self-interest, does he seem like he will sacrifice for the rakyat?

“If Nawawi can’t seem to show proper respect to a Malay ruler, can he be expected to respect the rakyat?

“Believe me, if tomorrow Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak were to step down, that day itself Nawawi will discard (his loyalty to) Najib into the dustbin,” said Anina.

Meanwhile, Perkasa Youth said the Langkawi MP's statement that he will only apologise to the Agong, and only at the ruler's behest, puts the monarch in a difficult situation.

“How can the Agong ask Nawawi to apologise if the MP insists he is innocent? In the public interest, it is better for Nawawi to stop the matter from becoming worse and avoid muddying the waters further," said Perkasa Youth chief Irwan Fahmi Ideris in a statement.

"All know and can read what Nawawi wrote. Only after the matter became an issue did he edit the sentence which he earlier wrote, in a bid to cover up his transgression on naming who is MO1.

"Police must investigate and the readers who managed to read what was written before it was edited know the truth. There is no need to stupefy the minds of those who are already enlightened," said Irwan.

He said that If Nawawi is truly sincere, he should just apologise and beg for the Agong's pardon without any more talk, and before things gets any worse.

On Wednesday, Nawawi caused an uproar when he seemingly added a royal twist to the saga surrounding Malaysian Official 1, who was mentioned in the DOJ suits.

In a Facebook comment, which was edited four hours later, the Langkawi MP said based on the Federal Constitution, it is the Agong who is the highest official in the government, which he termed as MO1.

Nawawi, however, claimed that his remark was misunderstood, explaining that he mentioned ‘Malaysian Official Number One’ instead of MO1. He also claimed that his comment was related to the Public Accounts Committee report on 1MDB and not to the DOJ filings.

Anina herself had lodged a police report against Nawawi over the matter, and he has lodged a counter-police report of his own to clear his name over what he claimed is a misunderstanding.