Negeri Sembilan polls: Royal impasse set to shape campaign, say analysts
Two men are claiming the Negeri Sembilan throne. The Aug 1 state election could lower political heat but won’t resolve the royal standoff, say experts.
Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir (left) and Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Jaafar. (Photos: Facebook/Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Aminuddin Harun, Sekretariat Yamtuan Ke-12)
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KUALA PILAH, Negeri Sembilan: Fresh from Johor’s Jul 11 state election which Barisan Nasional (BN) won by a landslide, Malaysia’s political coalitions will be reformulating their strategies for the next battle – the Aug 1 Negeri Sembilan state election – starting with candidate nominations on Saturday (Jul 18).
But political analysts say another issue could take centrestage in the battle for Negeri Sembilan votes – a royal deadlock that has simmered for three months.
Contesting coalitions are likely to “weaponise” the royal impasse in the heat of the campaign, even though it is unlikely the election will help resolve it, the observers add.
The poll could, in fact, worsen uncertainty when a chief minister has to be appointed thereafter by the state ruler, the experts say.
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This is because two men have unprecedentedly claimed the Negeri Sembilan throne.
On one side, the incumbent, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, remains the ruler recognised by the federal government and the state administration.
On the other, Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Jaafar also claims the throne after the state’s four undangs – or chieftains – held a ceremony on Jun 5, proclaiming him Tuanku Muhriz’s successor and the state’s 12th ruler, or Yang di-Pertuan Besar.
The undangs had on Apr 19 declared that Tuanku Muhriz had been removed from the throne following allegations of improper conduct. This came despite the apparent sacking of one of them – the undang of Sungei Ujong – two days earlier by the state’s highest authority on customary law.
The state government, which is led by Pakatan Harapan (PH), rejected Tuanku Muhriz’s dismissal, asserting that the removal process lacked constitutional validity.
In turn, the BN lynchpin party, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), withdrew its support for the state’s unity government, accusing chief minister Aminuddin Harun of improperly handling the royal impasse.
The 14 UMNO assemblymen later backtracked on their withdrawal after getting orders from the party’s central leadership. The state assembly was eventually dissolved on Jun 5.
Negeri Sembilan is the only state in Malaysia to practise a unique adat perpatih customary system, which gives its four undangs – who hail from the territories of Sungai Ujong, Jelebu, Johol, and Rembau – constitutional authority to elect and, in rare circumstances, move against the ruler.
The other eight states that have traditional rulers practise hereditary succession.
Whether the current royal impasse is resolved does not only depend on the election of new political officeholders, said Atriza Umar, an Open University Malaysia doctoral candidate who has written on Negeri Sembilan affairs.
“As long as these issues remain unresolved through legitimate channels, room for differing interpretations will continue to exist,” she told CNA.
Timeline of Negeri Sembilan royal spat
Apr 17, 2026: Negeri Sembilan’s Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU), or Council of the Yang-di Pertuan Besar and the Ruling Chiefs, holds a special sitting. Negeri Sembilan Chief Minister Aminuddin Harun announces the removal of Mubarak Dohak as the undang (chieftain) of Sungei Ujong, citing 33 alleged customary offences.
Apr 19, 2026: The state’s four undangs – including Mubarak – declare that the ruler, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, has been removed from the throne. They also named Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Ja’afar as the 12th ruler of the state.
Apr 21, 2026: Aminuddin rejects the chieftains’ declaration as invalid, saying Mubarak’s prior dismissal meant the council lacked the necessary quorum to remove Tuanku Muhriz as ruler.
Apr 23, 2026: Negeri Sembilan’s State Legislative Assembly sittings were indefinitely postponed after the undangs boycotted the opening ceremony.
Apr 27, 2026: All 14 Barisan Nasional (BN) assemblymen withdraw support for chief minister Aminuddin. They claimed Aminuddin had failed to properly manage the royal crisis and had excluded them from related discussions. The assemblymen eventually backtrack on this move.
May 5, 2026: BN and Pakatan Harapan say they have reached a consensus to maintain the unity government cooperation in the state.
Jun 5, 2026: The Negeri Sembilan state assembly is dissolved, paving the way for snap polls. The four undangs proclaim Tunku Nadzaruddin as the 12th ruler in an impromptu ceremony at a resort in Melaka.
Jun 27, 2026: Tuanku Muhriz installs two new undangs at the royal palace in Kuala Pilah. Muhammad Faris Johari succeeds Mubarak as the 11th undang of Sungei Ujong, while Hassan Ab Hamid replaces Rahim Yasin as the 22nd undang of Rembau.
Jul 9, 2026: Negeri Sembilan’s High Court allows the DKU to proceed with contempt charges against the four undangs who installed Tunku Nadzaruddin as the new ruler. The court ruled that the undangs could have violated a temporary injunction granted on Jun 5 aimed at preserving the royal status quo. A hearing is scheduled for Jul 28.
In a parallel legal move, the undangs had on May 5 filed their own action against the DKU, seeking to challenge Mubarak’s removal as the undang of Sungei Ujong.
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A “HOTTER” ELECTION CAMPAIGN THAN JOHOR?
The Negeri Sembilan election campaign is likely to be more complex and “explosive” than the recent Johor polls, said socio-political analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi of Universiti Malaya.
“It is going to get much hotter compared to Johor,” he said.
“The royalty issue will undoubtedly be a central issue in the upcoming state election. Political parties will weaponise these sensitivities to either consolidate or gain seats.”
He believes PH will present itself as the defender of the Constitution, government stability, and rule-of-law solutions, while BN and UMNO would emphasise respect for customary law and the position of the undangs, and claim that the state government has failed to manage customary sensitivities.
The opposition Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition and its leading component Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) will portray the conflict as evidence of the failure and fragmentation of the PH–BN alliance, while positioning themselves as the defenders of the Malays, Islam and the royal institution, said Awang Azman.
The campaign would also be particularly intense, given Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s PH and BN’s falling out at the state government level in April, he said.
The Negeri Sembilan state assembly comprises 36 seats. Before it was dissolved, PH held 17 seats, BN 14, and PN held five.
While PH will be contesting all 36 seats, BN has a pact with some PN component parties. BN will contest 25 seats, while the other 11 seats will be contested by PN component parties, with the exception of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
Some party leaders have, however, played down the prospect of politicising the royal standoff.
In Malaysia, topics regarding royalty, race, and religion – collectively referred to as the “3R” – are considered to be highly sensitive.
Democratic Action Party’s secretary-general Anthony Loke told CNA on Monday (Jul 13) that the party – which is part of PH – did not want to involve or drag the royal institution into the political arena.
“That is our number one principle … The royal crisis in Negeri Sembilan must be resolved within the royal institution based on the customs and the laws of the institution,” said Loke, who will be defending his Chennah state seat in the election.
“The whole campaign is about giving a strong mandate to the PH government.”
PH election director Amirudin Shari also said the election process should remain distinct from the ongoing monarchy dispute.
“Everybody has to sit down and solve this situation, from the undangs to the Yang di-Pertuan Besar,” he told CNA on Jun 24.
“The situation must be resolved as soon as possible. If not, it will drag on and become a constitutional crisis.”
BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Jun 29 that his coalition would not get involved in proceedings related to the royal institution ahead of the Negeri Sembilan election.
“We must be outside that circle,” he said as quoted by Bernama, adding he has made this clear to state BN leaders as they head into the campaign period.
Negeri Sembilan UMNO secretary Mustapha Nagoor told CNA that BN’s campaign would focus on chief minister Aminuddin’s performance.
He alleged that Aminuddin failed to resolve the rift between the palace and the undangs, instead allowing the conflict to play out in the court of public opinion.
“We hope that the people can give us their trust and as a new government, we will sit down with the experts who can use their wisdom to solve the issue,” he said.
Mustapha said accusations that UMNO had betrayed Tuanku Muhriz were off the mark.
“You cannot stop people from making their own assumptions and having their own perceptions but we know what lines we cannot cross. You cannot touch the monarchy and the adat,” he said.
LOCALS CAUGHT BETWEEN RIVAL FACTIONS
There are signs of the divide on the ground at Negeri Sembilan.
At the state’s mosques, worshippers find themselves caught between rival factions as prayers are offered for different claimants.
A Jelebu resident who wanted to be known only as Azrul told CNA that while he did not fully understand the workings of the adat perpatih, having two claimants to the throne was concerning and confusing.
“My social media feeds can be very polarising and I myself don’t know what to believe. I dare not comment on the subject and I just only read what is being said,” said the 35-year-old plumber, who is voting in Sungai Lui constituency.
Another Negeri Sembilan resident, who gave his name as Zaki, said he believed the election was unnecessary.
“This election is a waste of taxpayers money and resources. It won’t solve any issue and the standoff will continue. The rulers should have been left to resolve it among themselves,” said the engineer in his 40s who will vote in Paroi constituency.
WHY ELECTION WON’T SOLVE ROYAL IMPASSE
The Negeri Sembilan state election is unlikely to provide a definitive resolution to the royal deadlock, said lawyer GK Ganesan.
This is because it is, by design, a political instrument that tests the people’s confidence in a government, not the validity of a ruler’s title, he said.
The Negeri Sembilan controversy turns on a different plane altogether, he said. It is about the meaning and operation of the state constitution, the reach of customary law, and the lawful role of the undangs, among other issues.
“These are not matters that can be conclusively answered by counting votes at the ballot box,” Ganesan said, adding that an election could, at best, “steady the machinery of government and lower the political temperature”.
The “harder questions” – who may lawfully act, under which constitutional provision, by what process, and subject to what limits – are now before the courts and must be worked out within the constitutional and customary framework that gives Negeri Sembilan its distinctive character, Ganesan said.
On May 5, the sacked Sungei Ujong undang, together with the other three undangs and two officials, filed an originating summons against the Negeri Sembilan government to challenge the validity of the undang’s dismissal.
They also demanded the disclosure of official meeting minutes and records from a DKU special session held on Apr 17 to substantiate their claim that the incumbent ruler, Tuanku Muhriz, had been legally removed from the throne.
But the DKU and its secretary, Raja Norazli Raja Nordin, initiated contempt of court proceedings against the six who filed the initial summons for allegedly defying a court injunction aimed at preserving the status quo in the royal institution.
The substantive hearing for these contempt charges is scheduled for Jul 28.
Ganesan said the proper forum for deciding the present disputes is the legal and constitutional process.
“An election may accompany that process, or follow in its wake, but it cannot substitute for it,” he said.
Constitutional law expert Ikmal Hisham Md Tah of Universiti Teknologi MARA said the upcoming elections will exacerbate the uncertainty regarding who would appoint the next chief minister once the polls conclude.
“We are left with a critical question. Will it be the 11th ruler or the 12th that appoints the chief minister?” he said.
He believes the various political coalitions would likely hold conflicting interpretations regarding the appropriate course of action.
“Regardless of the outcome and which coalition wins, the incoming government will face a monumental challenge in navigating this constitutional crisis to restore administrative stability,” he said.
The legitimacy of the state assembly’s dissolution has, in fact, also been questioned by the undangs, who say their collective consent is a constitutional requirement, Ikmal noted.
This question has resonated at the highest level, apparently contributing to a rare decision to postpone the Conference of Rulers meeting that had been scheduled for Jun 23.
The Conference of Rulers, which can be held several times a year, brings together the nine rulers of the Malay states of Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Perlis, Terengganu, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Johor, and Perak, and the governors of the other four states of Penang, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak.
Quoting royal sources, news outlet The Star reported that the rulers were concerned whether it was appropriate to proceed given the two claimants to the Negeri Sembilan throne.
The last time the Conference of Rulers was called off was due to COVID-19 movement restrictions in 2021.
“It’s a very complicated and messy situation overall,” said Ikmal.
HOW TO INTERPRET CUSTOMARY LAWS?
Observers said the impasse highlights the complexities of navigating the adat perpatih customary system within a modern governance framework.
In the adat perpatih system, decisions are reached by muafakat or consensus, said Ganesan, the lawyer.
“A system built on consensus has no comfortable way to handle a deadlock. Muafakat assumes that reasonable people, talking long enough, will agree,” he said.
“The machinery is magnificent when everyone is talking. The question nobody designed for is the one now being asked: What happens when they stop?”
Different interpretations of Negeri Sembilan customs
The roots of the current crisis lie in Negeri Sembilan’s unique adat perpatih system, a matrilineal tradition originating from the Minangkabau highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesia.
Unlike eight other Malaysian states with hereditary monarchies, the Yang di-Pertuan Besar or the ruler in Negeri Sembilan is elected by the four undangs – or territorial chiefs – rather than inherited through direct lineage.
Among practitioners of adat perpatih, there are differing interpretations of the customs, raising questions of the validity of procedures to appoint individuals to these royal positions and therefore the legitimacy of those who occupy them.
Local Rembau customary leader Abdul Razak Mohd Yassin, who holds the territory’s second-highest rank just below the undang, insists that Rahim Yasin – who was installed in August 2024 – remains the legitimate undang of Rembau.
In July last year, the DKU officially recognised Rahim as the 22nd undang of Rembau, although he was not proclaimed to the position by the ruler Tuanku Muhriz.
This position was contested on Jun 27, when the ruler officially proclaimed Hassan Ab Hamid the undang of Rembau instead.
Abdul Razak questioned the motives behind what he claimed were the rapid appointments of replacement undangs and if they were moves to consolidate power within the palace.
“The overall situation in Negeri Sembilan is heartbreaking and sad. This is not following the customs, which are being made a mockery of,” he told CNA, as he showed a plaque bearing Rahim’s name as the 22nd undang at the Rembau Territorial Chief’s Office.
He also claimed the dismissal of Tuanku Muhriz was valid and did not violate any constitutional or customary mandates.
Not everyone agrees. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia legal expert Noor Aziah Awal, who is from Negeri Sembilan, believes the undangs failed to follow due process in their attempt to depose Tuanku Muhriz.
While Article 10 of the state constitution allows the undangs to request a ruler’s abdication, such actions demand strict compliance with both traditional and legal procedures, she said.
The chief minister was neither invited to the proceedings nor a signatory to the declaration, and the ruler was denied a proper opportunity to defend himself, she noted.
She supports the decision to dismiss the dissident chieftains and appoint new undangs.
“It is very important for whoever is elected as chief minister of the next Negeri Sembilan government to seek out (Tuanku) Muhriz and move on from there,” she said.
Aziah also explained that the undangs are elected by the lembaga (tribal chiefs) who oversee specific tribes within the territory, and they are in turn elected by the buapak or clan chiefs who serve as the smallest units of traditional administration.
“It is a pyramid structure,” she said.
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Atriza from Open University Malaysia believes the impasse stems from more than a failure of communication.
A factor that likely contributed to these differences, she said, is the variation in the interpretation of customary law and the jurisdiction of each institution.
Although adat perpatih has principles inherited through generations, its implementation still requires interpretation in the context of current circumstances, she said.
In situations without precedent, “differing interpretations may emerge among those holding customary authority, without necessarily invalidating the legitimacy of any party involved”, she said.
Source: CNA/hz
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