The former Prime Minister of Malaysia Muhyiddin Yassin was charged by local authorities on August 28 with sedition after a speech where he allegedly mocked the country’s monarchy. In a court in the northeastern region of Kelantan, Yassin pleaded not guilty and claimed that he did nothing wrong. However, prosecutors said “it was clear” he publicly questioned the previous king’s integrity, which is considered a crime in the Malaysian Constitution.
Yassin, who led the Asian nation from 2020 to 2021, made the comments back in July during an election campaign event in the city of Kelantan. While some polls have shown that the majority of Malaysians support the monarchy, there are many who believe that the country should become a republic and embrace more Western values. Some political analysts said that even when Yassin has never been considered a radical pro-monarchy like some other local politicians, his comments against former King Al-Sultan Abdullah were unexpected even by members of his party.
In the speech, Yassin questioned why the former monarch refused to invite him to become the country’s prime minister after a hung Parliament back in 2022. Yassin claimed that he was meant to recover that position and rule the country for a second time as the vast majority of lawmakers supported him. The 77-year-old politician also suggested that the former king failed to take that step as he lacked the honor that monarchs should show during their reign. He also claimed that maybe the former monarch was “scared” of some reforms he could’ve taken as a prime minister.
At that moment, many journalists expressed their surprise over the king’s decision, as Yassin’s Islamic nationalist bloc received the support of the legislative power, with the Parliament’s president announcing that the party was the ruling one. Despite the announcement, then-King Abdullah said that the “wisest decision” was to pick then-opposition leader Ibrahim Anwar as Malaysia’s new prime minister. Some analysts said that the former monarch chose him as his advisors told him that he was going to be the best option to take the proper economic measures to restore the country’s finances.
Malaysia has a rotating monarchy where nine state rulers of the Malay ethnicity take turns as the country’s king for one term of only five years. The Asian nation adopted that type of monarchy back in 1957, after gaining independence from the United Kingdom, in what some reporters described at that moment as a “new beginning” for Malaysia and its monarchy.
In a statement, Abdullah’s son said that Yassin committed a mistake by delivering those words in front of an audience, as he described his remarks as dangerous. The son of the former monarch added that the leader of the Islamist nationalistic bloc undermined the country’s royal institution and exacerbated polarization. If found guilty, Yassin faces up to three years behind bars.
