As Negeri Sembilan royal crisis persists, Malaysian rulers, government urged to step in

The deadlock has led to a change in the state government and prompted Malaysia’s Conference of Rulers to call for a ‘dignified solution’

Malaysia’s powerful Conference of Rulers and the government need to intervene and find a solution to the months-long royal stand-off in Negeri Sembilan and constitutional limbo over the status of the state’s ruler, according to political analysts.

Negeri Sembilan’s royal house has been locked in a bitter deadlock since April over whether incumbent Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir or his proposed replacement, Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Ja’afar, is the rightful ruler.

The feud has taken down a state government aligned with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and left its newly appointed chief minister without a state executive council.

The crisis has forced the Conference of Rulers to call for restraint on Wednesday and for the competing sides to find a “dignified solution” that would not undermine the state monarchy.