PETALING JAYA: Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Ismail Lasim has refused to comment on Friday’s public reprimand by the state’s ruler, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir.
“I’m okay. There’s nothing to comment on,” Sinar Harian quoted him as saying.
The reprimand was captured in several videos widely circulated on social media in which Tuanku Muhriz is shown questioning why Ismail wanted to meet him.
“Don’t see me, I don’t want to see you. You understand? I am the Yang Dipertuan Besar but you said I am not,” an irate Tuanku Muhriz was seen ticking off Ismail after Friday prayers at a mosque, after informing a group of people around him that Ismail had written to the Keeper of the Rulers' Seal in August to state that Tuanku Muhriz was no longer the Yang Dipertuan Besar.
In response, Ismail, offered the “angkat sembah” - a traditional gesture offered when greeting royalty.
Negeri Sembilan has been embroiled in a royal crisis since April, when four persons claiming to be undangs, or traditional chieftains, announced the purported removal of Tuanku Muhriz as the state’s ruler. Ismail later endorsed a proclamation by the state executive council on Tuanku Muhriz's ouster, leading to the ruler revoking the appointments of the entire state executive council.