Tuanku Muhriz rebukes Negeri Sembilan MB in public

KUCHING: The Yang Dipertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, publicly rebuked Menteri Besar Datuk Ismail Lasim on Friday (Oct 16) today as the state’s constitutional crisis continued.

Videos circulating on social media showed Tuanku Muhriz confronting Ismail over a letter the ruler said had been sent to the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal stating that he was no longer the Yang Dipertuan Besar.

Questioning why Ismail had sought to meet him, Tuanku Muhriz told the menteri besar that he did not wish to see him until the earlier position was withdrawn.

“Don’t see me, I don’t want to see you. You understand? I am the Yang Dipertuan Besar but you said I am not,” he was heard saying in the video.

Ismail responded by offering the traditional angkat sembah gesture, while worshippers at the mosque were subsequently heard chanting “Daulat Tuanku”.

The confrontation comes amid a months-long dispute over the Negeri Sembilan throne.

The crisis began in April when four individuals claiming to be undang, or traditional chieftains, purported to remove Tuanku Muhriz as the state ruler.

The same disputed group later purportedly proclaimed Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Ja’afar as the new Yang Dipertuan Besar in June.

Last month, Ismail endorsed a statement by his state executive council purportedly affirming Tuanku Muhriz’s removal.

Tuanku Muhriz subsequently revoked the appointments of the entire state executive council, leaving the state government without its previous line-up of executive councillors