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Salleh warns of new conflict between Dr M and royalty
Published:  Nov 4, 2017 5:54 PM
Updated: 10:35 AM

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak has raised the possibility of another conflict between former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the royal institution.

This was after Mahathir's "Bugis pirate" comment irked Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, who pointed out that the Selangor sultanate had Bugis roots.

The Selangor Royal Council had proposed that Mahathir be investigated under the Sedition Act 1948.

"If not careful (sic), this is going to turn into another conflict between Mahathir and the Malay rulers.

"And this is going to be the third conflict after the first two which happened when Mahathir (photo) was prime minister," Salleh said in a blog posting.

As such, Salleh said Pakatan Harapan, of which Mahathir is chairperson, cannot remain silent.

Salleh said since Harapan had not made its position clear on Mahathir's comment, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang should clarify the matter.

"Lim's silence can be construed as being in agreement with Mahathir that the Bugis race are pirates and there is more than one ruler who is of Bugis descent.

"While BN condemns Mahathir’s statement that insults the Bugis race, Harapan’s stand appears to be unclear.

"Therefore Lim must come out and clarify Harapan’s stance," he said.

Lim is not a member of the Harapan presidential council.

Mahathir came under fire after he made the "Bugis pirate" comment at Harapan's "Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi" rally in Petaling Jaya last month.

He has defended his comment, stating that it was directly aimed at the prime minister and was not intended to insult the Bugis community.

As prime minister, Mahathir had sought to curb the royal institution's power, including introducing a special court to try the royalty as well as stripping the monarchs of their legislative veto power.

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