General : Anwar Leaves Negeri Sembilan Palace After Hour-Long Audience With Tuanku Muhriz

In a nearly hour-long meeting held this evening, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sat with Yang Dipertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir. The gathering took place at Istana Negeri Sembilan in Changkat Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur. Anwar arrived at the palace grounds around 6pm and departed the grounds after the meeting concluded. Astro Awani reported that no specifics about the discussions were immediately revealed.

Tuanku Muhriz had taken the unprecedented step of revoking the appointments of the Negeri Sembilan State Executive Council members the night before, according to a statement from Istana Negeri Sembilan comptroller Datuk Azizi Mohamad Ali. The reason cited was that the members had allegedly breached their oaths of office. The palace referenced Article 38(5) of the Negeri Sembilan State Constitution 1959, which stipulates that a member of the State Executive Council serves at the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

The exco members had sworn their oaths and signed loyalty pledges on August 7 prior to their appointment to the council. However, Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Ismail Lasim disputed the validity of the revocations in a statement today. He argued that any action to dismiss or terminate an exco member's membership without the advice or formal request of the Menteri Besar was "invalid, unconstitutional and had no legal effect".

Ismail stated he had not been consulted or provided advice on the removal of any exco members under Article 38(5). Consequently, he maintained that the existing line-up of exco members remained legally valid and would continue to carry out their duties as usual.