Negeri Sembilan ruler Muhriz to replace chieftains as tussle for crown escalates

KUALA LUMPUR - A months-long palace crisis in Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan state has spiralled into a no-holds barred battle between the two claimants to the throne, with the incumbent set to install two new chieftains loyal to him.

Negeri Sembilan ruler Muhriz Munawir is expected to swear in the new chieftains on June 25 to bolster his position in the face of a challenge from his cousin Nadzaruddin Jaafar.

The move comes after Muhriz’s fellow royals from other Malaysian states refused to affirm his legitimacy, despite the Attorney General’s advice that he remains the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, or Yamtuan of Negeri Sembilan. The royals called off the Conference of Rulers scheduled for June 23 to 25, which Muhriz was due to chair.

The ceremonies to install the new chieftains, known as Undang, come ahead of the visit of Muhriz’s rival Nadzaruddin to local customary leaders in the Rembau territory in Negeri Sembilan on June 26, the latest in a series of public appearances positioning him as the state’s sovereign.

The bitter royal feud had grabbed headlines on April 19, when four chieftains claimed to have deposed Muhriz and replaced him with Nadzaruddin, the son of the previous Yamtuan. They later installed Nadzaruddin in an impromptu ceremony in a hotel in neighbouring Melaka state on June 5.

Under Negeri Sembilan’s unique Adat Perpatih customs, the Undang elect the state ruler and can remove him if an inquiry establishes serious grounds for his dismissal. But no such inquiry was held against Muhriz.

The Undang are themselves elected by tribal chiefs in their own territories and there are splits among these local leaders over the clash between the Yamtuan and the four chieftains.

Several government and legal sources have confirmed to The Straits Times that five of the nine state monarchs decided to call off the conference as they could not decide whether the meetings would be legitimate if Muhriz attended.

“They would prefer that he resolves the dispute before the next meeting in October, but outside of court. Hence, he is seeking to fill the two vacant Undang roles, which will mean they no longer outnumber him,” said a source close to several royal houses.

The vacancies had arisen after the Undang of Sungei Ujong was removed on April 17 by the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU), Negeri Sembilan’s highest authority on Malay customs, while the Rembau Undang’s 2024 appointment was never formally gazetted.

Nonetheless, the four chieftains who tried to depose Muhriz have filed in court to obtain minutes of the April 17 DKU meeting, claiming irregularities in how the Sungei Ujong Undang was sacked.

In turn, the chieftains are also facing contempt proceedings beginning July 7, as they ignored a court order restraining them from convening meetings or making decisions, which include installing a new Yamtuan.

Against this backdrop, Muhriz’s plan to quickly install two new Undang could also be an attempt to head off a messy court battle as desired by his brother rulers.

The palace dispute has also reverberated politically as UMNO withdrew support for Negeri Sembilan chief minister Aminuddin Harun, who is from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, claiming that he interfered with royal affairs. This resulted in a dissolution of the state assembly on June 5.

The Undang have objected to the dissolution by Muhriz and the state polls scheduled for Aug 1.

If this imbroglio drags on past the state election, questions will be raised as to who can legitimately swear in a new chief minister. This is given that there are not only two claimants to the throne but also the claim that this decision must be made jointly with the Undang.

Both Prime Minister Anwar and the Negeri Sembilan state government led by his PH coalition have stated that they recognise Muhriz as the ruler.

Official sources told The Straits Times that the Attorney General (AG) had advised Prime Minister Anwar that Muhriz’s removal and replacement did not abide by the state’s constitution. The AG added that the Federal Constitution obliges the federation to guarantee the rights of a monarch based on his state’s constitution and not mere customary practices.

This advice - which concluded that there was no reason for Muhriz not to chair the Conference of Rulers - was also tendered to rulers ahead of their cancelled June 23 meeting, the sources said.

That the Anwar administration’s advice was ignored by the rulers will serve only to complicate the delicate interplay in Malaysia’s corridors of power, where royal influence has been growing amid political divisions which have left no single party as a dominating force.

This is in stark contrast to how the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional (BN) in its heyday, especially under then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in the 1980s and 1990s, clipped the wings of the rulers, reducing their veto power over legislation and their immunity to criminal charges.

While the Undang are expected to dispute their removal, likely with another court filing, precedent in Malaysia has shown that the incumbent royal’s prerogative has held sway in such disputes.

In 1981, just days before Sultan Ismail Ibrahim’s death, he promoted his son Mahmood Iskandar to Crown Prince, displacing his younger brother Abdul Rahman who had held the post for two decades. Iskandar’s fast ascension to the throne after being made crown prince sparked controversy and complaints from his brother but the status quo prevailed.