From: twm27@isuvax.iastate.edu
Subject: Re: Discussion on Malaysian sultanate amendments
Reply-To: twm27@isuvax.iastate.edu
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 19:30:04 GMT

In article <1993Jan25.172314.3498@lynx.dac.northeastern.edu>, dyip@lynx.dac.northeastern.edu (dawei yip) writes:
>Dated 25 January 1993
>Editor:   Kieran Cooke
>Media:   Financial Times
>
>MALAY SULTANS SENSE AN END TO THE HIGH LIFE
>-------------------------------------------
>
>There are few things as upsetting as seeing your own obituary in the
>newspapers.  Recently life has been a bit like that for Malaysian's nine
>sultans, or hereditary rulers, who take turns as king.
>
>The royalty is involved in a bruising battle with PM Mahathir.  Over the
>weekend one of the country's national newspapers pointedly printed a
>list of the world's monarchs who had fallen by the proletarian wayside
>since the war.
>
>The sultans sit in their palaces, bombarded by adverse publicity,
>sensing that their days of high living could be at an end.
>
>Dr Mahathir wants to limit the sultan's powers.  Last week, the PM
>introduced a bill to parliament that would do away with constitutional
>provisions giving the royalty immunity from prosecution.
>
>The move followed an incident in which the sultan of the southern state
>of Johor is alleged to have abused, then beaten up, a sports official.
>
>But Dr Mahathir has a problem.  The constitution stipulates that any
>action which alters the position of the royalty must be approved by the
>sultans themselves.
>
>Persuasive techniques have been applied to make the sultans agree to the
>constitutional changes.  Stories of royal high living and various
>alleged abuses of royal power began to appear in the media.  The sultans
>seemed persuaded.
>
>But then, at the last minute, they turned on Dr Mahathir, unanimously
>rejecting the constitutional changes.  Since then, the government gloves
>have come off.  The government started by annoucing that relatively
>trival royal benefits, like special licence plates for their lavish
>fleets of cars, must go.  Special wards in hospitals reserved for the
>royalty would be open to the public.  Dr Mahathir would no longer seek a
>weekly audience with the king.  There would be no more state funds for
>the upkeep of royal yachts, and no more allocations for work on royal
>homes.
>
>By the end of last week, Dr Mahathir had moved forward the big guns.  In
>future, he said, funds would be given to the royalty only in strict
>accordance with regulations.  In effect, this means the withdrawal of
>many millions of dollars from the royal purses.
>
>Each day fuller stories of alleged royal misdemeanours have emerged. 
>One sultan is said to have been in the habit of opening fire on vehicles
>careless enough to come close to royal motorcades.  Another is said to
>have sold timber concessions worth millions of dollars to pay debts.
>There have been tales of manslaughter and in one case, murder, with
>allegations made in parliment that a sultan killed his golf caddie.

[sorry, too lazy to delete original article]

	Anyway, this is a very scary situation. The sultans of malay
peninsula is way too abusive with their powers. And personally, as
a Muslim that is, I want each of them to go down the drain. 

	But I also preferred Umno to remain in power. All my political
readings; up until 1991; indicates that for Umno to remain in power it
also has to have the blessings of those overbearing sultans.

	I was apparently shocked by Mahathir's move; implicitly attacking
Johor's sultan, a man that backed him in the wake of Umno's crisis in
1987.

	I also wondered how other political parties will react to all
this things, especially Pas, the so-called Islamic party of Malaysia.
If Pas is as ass-kisser to the sultans of malaysia as they are to 
kelantan's sultan, then I think Pas will take full advantage with this
situation.

	Still, if Pas is still as politically naive organization as
they are, then they would just let things go by.

	Certainly other pariahs like Dap wouldnt want to get into this
situation since they always despise the sultanate in the first place.

	I just can't help wondering how will things turn out.


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