Langkah Ismail, bekas exco ‘biadab’, kata PM

Perdana Menteri Anwar Ibrahim criticized former Negeri Sembilan exco members, including Ismail Lasim, for their actions involving the royal institution. Anwar emphasized that Ismail and others involved lacked mandate to question the king's position, stating he could not imagine a Malay leader leading calls to overthrow the Malay king.

Bernama reported his remarks, discussing the controversy in Negeri Sembilan. The constitutional crisis began on April 19 when Mubarak Dohak, claiming to be Undang Sungei Ujong, read a proclamation stating that Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir was removed from the throne by four Undangs. The following day, then-Menteri Besar Aminuddin Harun rejected the proclamation as not in line with the State Constitution of Negeri Sembilan (SCNS).

In August, PRN Negeri Sembilan representative Ismail took the oath as Menteri Besar in the presence of Tuanku Muhriz, who also appointed 10 exco members to hold positions "as long as permitted by the Yang Di-Pertuan Besar," as per Article 38(5) SCNS. On September 9, Ismail rejected the April 19 proclamation but reversed his stance eight days later and ratified it.

On September 17, Ismail announced that MMKN received a majority vote to endorse the proclamation, confirming the removal of Tuanku Muhriz's throne and mandating the state government to enforce it. On September 21, Negeri Sembilan Palace announced that Tuanku Muhriz cancelled the appointment of MMKN members after discovering they disregarded their oath.

The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) later stated that the April 19 proclamation was invalid as it did not follow mandatory provisions of Article 10 SCNS. In line with the AGC's decision, the Negeri Sembilan State Secretariat announced they would not take any enforcement or prosecution actions against the April 19 proclamation.

However, a few days later, Ismail announced that the exco special meeting made a decision to suspend State Secretary Zafir Ibrahim and Legal Adviser Muzalmah Mustapha Kamal. The AGC, however, noted that matters related to suspending state and legal adviser's tenure fall under the jurisdiction of the Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam and Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Kehakiman dan Perundangan, as stated in Article 37 SCNS.