Ismail should resign, lawyer says amid NS proclamation saga

A lawyer has called on Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Ismail Lasim to resign after the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said a state executive council statement endorsing the removal of Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir as ruler had no legal effect.

Rosli Dahlan pointed to yesterday’s announcement by the state secretary’s office that the administration would not act on Ismail’s request to gazette the proclamation on Tuanku Muhriz’s removal as Yang Dipertuan Besar.

The lawyer said the episode showed that Ismail had “no grasp or understanding and no control of the state’s administration” and had acted contrary to the state legal adviser’s advice.

“Thus, he should resign,” Rosli told FMT.

The Negeri Sembilan state secretary’s office said it decided not to act on Ismail’s request after accepting the AGC’s view regarding the announcement by exco members concerning the April 19 proclamation.

It also said it had referred the matter to the state legal adviser to ensure that all action is in accordance with the state’s constitution and laws.

The AGC yesterday said the exco members had no jurisdiction, authority or power under the Negeri Sembilan constitution to make such an announcement, and that the menteri besar and state executive council did not have the power to unilaterally declare the state ruler’s position vacant.

It also said the April 19 proclamation by four purported undangs removing Tuanku Muhriz was invalid as it did not comply with the mandatory requirements of Article 10 of the state constitution.

It said while the undangs had the power to remove the Yang Dipertuan Besar, there was no evidence that the procedures laid out in Article 10 were complied with.

The AGC also said the authority of some of the signatories to the proclamation remained under dispute, as they had been removed as undangs according to the customary laws of their respective luaks.

The state exco members said in a statement on Wednesday that Tuanku Muhriz’s removal in April was legitimate and that Tuanku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Ja’afar was the new ruler of Negeri Sembilan.

Ismail endorsed the statement the following day, saying the decision was made unanimously when the exco convened on Tuesday.