KARPAL SINGH ATTACKING THE SULTAN OF PERAK IN DANGER OF BEING SEDITIOUS AND WHAT IS ANWAR'S STAND ON THE ISSUE

Karpal Singh being a lawyer should know the provisions of the Federal Constitution.

In our Constitution there is a Federal List, State List and the Mixed List.

The Religion of Islam is under the State List. The Head of Islam in a State with a Sultan is the Sultan who is a Constitutional Monarchy. Thus the Sultan of Perak is the Head of Islam in Perak. In the case of the former Straits Settlements of Malacca and Penang the Yang Dipertuan Agong is the Head of Religion

When the Perak MB Dato Seri Nizar recently decided to transfer out on a 24 hour notice through the telephone the Pengarah of Jabatan Agama Islam Perak (JAIP) who is also the Secretary of the Majlis Agama Islam Perak (MAIP) he did so without consulting the Sultan and Raja Muda Perak.

Clearly the MB acted erroneouly because the Sultan is Head of Islam in Perak and the Raja Muda Perak is the Chairman of MAIP. Constitutionally and by Convention both the Sultan and Raja Muda should been consulted by the Menteri Besar.

Nizar had since then withdrawn the 24 hours transfer notice to the officer after being called to the Palace by Raja Nazrin who showed his displeasure in a Press Statement issued by the Palace.

And the MB is submitting his Letter of Apology to the Sultan on his erroneous action. Thus the matter had been settled and should rest there.

Now we observe that Karpal Singh and other DAP leaders had attacked the Sultan for alleged interference in the State administration. These DAP leaders should read the Federal Constitution thoroughly before starting to politisize the issue as it will hit them back and hard later on.

As I have stated earlier being a lawyer Karpal should know the role of the Constitutional Monarchy that we have in Malaysia and the role of the Sultans as the Heads of Islam in their respective States. Karpal shold know the dangers of touching the positions of the Sultans.

This is not the first time that Karpal is disrespectful of the Monarchy. In the 80s he tried to sue the Sultan of Selangor but was unsuccessful. In April he commented on the speech made by the Tengku Mahkota of Kelantan on 14th April 2008 when he officiated the Malay Unity Gathering at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).

Likewise Dato Ngeh who is the Perak DAP Head and Senior Exco being a lawyer himself should also knows the Perak Constitution. He should be aware of the perils of politisizing the Sultan's role in Islam.

The Sultan at his recent Royal Birthday Celebrations had bestowed on Dato Ngeh his Datoship. Like wise the Sultan has also the prerogative to withdraw his datoship at the pleasure of His Highness.

Finally in questioning the powers and position of the Sultan on matters of Islam, DAP leaders are in danger of committing offence under The Sedition Act.

The action of the UMNO Youth in making a police report is an indication and reflection of the wide spread anger among the Malays at DAP's blatant disrespect to the Position of The Malay Sultans as the Custodian of Islam in their respective States.

DAP should stop issuing new statements on the issue as they will only further inflame racial feelings and create tensions among Malaysians which will be of no benefits to all and the nation.

What DAP should do is to implement whatever promises they have made to the voters in Penang, Selangor, Perak where they are part of the Pakatan Rakyat state governments. Otherwise they are in danger of being labelled trying to hookwink the voters who have elected them.

I am also interested to hear Dato Seri Anwar's comment and stand on this current behavior of DAP vis a vis the Position of the Sultans as Constitutional Monarchy . He has to issue a statement because he is the de facto leader of Pakatan Rakyat. Otherwise the silence is deafening.

On Barisan Nasional side Dato Seri Najib has already made clear the BN's stand namely that in matters involving Islam are under the Malay Rulers being Heads of Islam in their respective states.