DR Mahathir Mohamad’s unprecedented move to return royal awards to the Selangor royal house is not the former prime minister’s first brush with royalty.

The combative politician first sparred with the rulers in 1993 when the government did away with the royalty’s immunity over civil and criminal prosecution.

Up until then, the rulers had enjoyed absolute personal immunity from proceedings in any civil or criminal court.

But events on December 6, 1992, when Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar Johor hockey coach Douglas Gomez lodged a police report alleging that he was beaten by the then Sultan of Johor, the late Sultan Iskandar Sultan Ismail, gave Dr Mahathir his opportunity.

Responding to the report, Dr Mahathir had said: “The royalty is not above the law. They cannot kill people. They cannot beat people.”

Four days later, Dewan Rakyat held a special session on December 10 and voted to curb the powers of the royalty if necessary.

The motion received 96 votes from the 180 lawmakers, including two votes from PAS and DAP. It was the first time a reproach against the royalty was accepted by the Dewan Rakyat.

The then Deputy Prime Minister Ghafar Baba moved a bill to amend the constitution to make the rulers to be liable to criminal and civil proceedings in ordinary courts.

The motion said “all necessary action must be taken to ensure that a similar incident” did not recur.

Semangat 46, led by former Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah opposed the motion,saying it would weaken the royalty and Malay privilege.

During the period, media coverage by government controlled newspapers reported on the alleged luxurious lifestyles of the royalty.

Later, an amendment bill was vetoed by all nine members of the Conference of Rulers in January 1993.

In March 1993, a compromise bill was drafted with four concessions.

• No civil or criminal action can commence against the royalty in their personal capacities except with the consent of the attorney-general under Article 183.
• The Yang di-Pertuan Agong or the rulers may institute proceedings to enforce their civil rights.
• All cases by or against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the rulers will not be tried in ordinary courts but under a special court created under Articles 181(2) and 182.
• The Conference of Rulers will have the right to nominate two out of five judges on the Special Court under Article 182(1).
• If convicted of a crime, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers and their consorts may be pardoned by the Conference of Rulers under Article 42 (12)(b).

The concessions were ultimately assented to by a majority of the members of the Conference of Rulers in March 1993.

The late journalist and biographer, Barry Wain, wrote in his 2009 book ‘Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times’ that “Dr Mahathir had calculated shrewdly and waited for the right time to strike, having discarded from the Cabinet and Umno’s Supreme Council those politicians who sympathised or sided with the monarchy during the first crisis.

“He figured that with the growth of the Malay middle class, fewer Malays would look to the monarchy for symbolic protection. They owed their improved status to specific policies, and they would have faith in the political system that delivered those policies to secure their future.”

The first case involving the royalty following the amendment was a Special Court order in December 2008 for Negeri Sembilan Sultan Tuanku Ja’afar ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman to pay US$1 million (RM3.5 million) to Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad (SCBMB) over a banking suit.

In 1994, Dr Mahathir again reduced the ability of the rulers’ to stop bills from coming to pass. In the May amendment, all laws passed by Parliament would become law within 30 days irrespective of whether the King has given his assent.

In recent years, Dr Mahathir has expressed some regret to the amendment that no longer made it necessary for the approval and signature of Yang di-Pertuan Agong to approve an act of Parliament.

Dr Mahathir said this about the new National Security Council Act, which gives broad emergency powers to the government, even though the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had not signed it. The law, that came into force on August 1, 2016, hands the power to declare emergencies to the executive.

“Among the rights and power of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is that of declaring a state of emergency because its implications are serious. NSC gives the government the right to suspend laws. With this right the government can arrest and detain any person without trial,” Dr Mahathir wrote in his blog last August. – December 14, 2017.