Palace invite: Dr M takes sarcastic view of retraction
The former prime minister says he accepted the invitation in November thinking it was a national event.
“Apparently, national events are part of party politics.
“I apologise for making a wrong assumption.
“I will take note that Istana Negara belongs to (Prime Minister) Najib (Razak) and the Barisan Nasional (BN),” wrote Mahathir in his usual sarcastic tone on his blog today.
His post came following a letter by the palace, cancelling an earlier invitation it had sent out to the 91-year-old and his wife, Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali.
The invite was for the Dec 13 oath taking of the Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Muhammad V, as Malaysia’s 15th Agong.
He is taking over from the current king, the Sultan of Kedah, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah.
“I received the invitation from the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal on Nov 10,” said Mahathir.
“I confirmed my attendance as I assumed this was a national event.”
However, on Tuesday, Mahathir received another letter, this time informing him that he was no longer invited to the event as the palace wished to “prevent any embarrassment as the office will not prepare a seat” for him.
Images of the letters — signed by the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal, Syed Danial Syed Ahmad — addressed to Mahathir and his wife have gone viral on social media, shared by among others their daughter Marina Mahathir.
Lawyer N Sivananthan, speaking to FMT, said Mahathir’s statement, implying that the palace is under the thumb of Najib and the government may be seditious.
He said this is because it had painted the rulers as just a rubber stamp for the government.
“His statement made it appear as if the whole royal institution is under government control when it is supposed to be independent.
“It can result in the public losing faith in the royal institution.”
Sivananthan also said Mahathir’s remarks were unwarranted and were unfair to the royal institution as he was retaliating against the palace decision to retract the invite.
“It is an event organised by the palace. So they have the right to decide who should and should not attend the event, whatever the reason may be,” the lawyer added.
Human rights lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad believed otherwise, saying the statement was not seditious as the former prime minister was merely making an inference, based on his own experience.
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“He’s being cynical and it is sarcasm at its best. But definitely not seditious.”