Denying The Royal Addendum Has Created More Trouble For The Unity Government

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THE unity government has unnecessarily landed itself in trouble with the controversies and polemics surrounding the royal addendum from the previous King.
In the recent days, there had been denials all around since the addendum was issued. Many had thought that the addendum was a separate decree and there were rumours about it since early last year.
All the subsequent mess would not have happened if the truth had prevailed. However, the unity government had been beating around the bush and not addressing the addendum issue straight forwardly.
Now that the addendum is regarded as true and real, the government has a lot of explaining to do. The addendum issue has sullied the image of the previous King who, it must be noted, helped place Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in power when he opted for a unity government comprising all communities.
Anwar owes a debt of gratitude to the previous King who was very much interested in constitutional and national affairs.
Denying the addendum was totally wrong when it could reflect negatively on the previous King’s standing and his prerogative which is non-justiciable in the country.
Whether it was only the addendum or the main subject, it was part of the royal prerogative and it had to be given effect.
The royal pardon consisting of a reduction in former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s prison sentence and fine together with the addendum had completed the pardon process as far as the previous King was concerned.

The fact that a new King, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim had begun his five-year tenure did not matter as he would not interfere with the completed pardon process as one King will not interfere with the prerogative of the other.
The present King had gentlemanly and wisely stayed out of this episode as it fully involved the previous King.
Najib even went to the High Court last year concerning the addendum and the judge dismissed it as hearsay!
Since early last year the addendum had been bandied about with no one in government telling the truth about it. It was dismissed as a rumour but it must be remembered that there is no smoke without fire.
It is bewildering that the unity government, which has been quick in prosecuting people on 3R issues of race, royalty and religion has committed one itself by ignoring the prerogative of pardon, in this case the addendum which would have allowed the former prime minister to spend the remaining prison term under house arrest.
It would have been much easier to deal with the addendum initially than face the dire consequences now.
Since the pardon is a royal prerogative both the government, the opposition and the people would have accepted it no matter how much of unease or differences in opinion it would cause.
Instead the unity government went about denying it and the problem has snowballed to a critical level that could destabilise the government.
Now that the truth is known it is going to affect UMNO’s relationship with the unity government and its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will be hard pressed to give a viable excuse as he also the deputy prime minister.
It is also going to affect the unity government’s relationship with DAP that has a strong anti-corruption stance.
If Anwar had given effect to the addendum as soon as it was made, he would have won the support of Najib and UMNO, which is very much tensed up and destabilised due to the imprisonment of their popular leader.
Possibly, the unity government had other political considerations to figure out but the final result is the mess they have landed themselves in now.
Since the unity government worked itself getting into the problem, now they will have to use extra effort to get out of it.
V. Thomas is a Focus Malaysia viewer.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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