KUCHING: Kelantan’s Sultan Muhammad V was king only for 755 days, abdicating yesterday.
Sultan Muhammad V was 47 when he was elected as the 15th Agong by the Conference of Rulers in October 2016, making him among the youngest sultans to helm the position.
As far as Sultan Muhammad V is concerned history seems pregnant with many dramatic events well before he assumed the name Sultan Muhammad V as he ascended the Malaysian throne on April 24, 2017.
History will show that Sultan Muhammad V’s ascension to the Kelantan throne was as dramatic as his abdication yesterday.
Before that he was the Regent of Kelantan Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra, the eldest son of the Sultan of Kelantan, Sultan Ismail Petra.
The Star wrote on April 4 2010 of a ‘Power play at Kelantan palace’. It was a lengthy piece, but the part that sums up the whole story was this:
Quote: In the middle of it all is Sultan Ismail Petra, 60, who has been unwell since last year and who returned to Kelantan in March after months of treatment in a hospital in Singapore.
The palace power play has been intense, to say the least.
There have been so many lawsuits involving the Kelantan palace that people have lost track of who is suing who and over what. They have seen one royal brother suing another royal brother, prince suing ex-wife, prince suing palace officials, and the Sultan reportedly divorcing his second wife.
On top of all this, there have been statements and counter-statements by opposing sides over a variety of issues.
Malaysian royals enjoy a great deal of privileged privacy unlike, say, in Britain where everything they do or say is splashed all over the media. But the Kelantan royal feud has escalated to such an extent that it has made news headlines.
What has happened is basically a family quarrel except that this is no ordinary family and at stake is the issue of succession to the throne.
The starting point to all this was the Sultan’s health. His Royal Highness fell ill in May last year and after a brief stay in the Kubang Krian hospital, was transferred to Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital.
Tengku Faris, 40, was appointed Regent by the Kelantan Succession Council which, as its name suggests, oversees succession to the throne.
The interregnum has been fraught with incidents.
Tengku Fakhry’s beautiful teenage bride Manohara Odelia Pinot ran back to Indonesia under very controversial circumstances while they were visiting the ailing sovereign in Singapore. Tengku Fakhry, 32, is also known as the Tengku Temenggong and is third in line to the throne.
It was also during this period that the Sultan’s second wife, Elia Suhana Ahmad, emerged with allegations that she was being prevented from seeing him.
Then there was the issue of the Mentri Besar ignoring a request to call on the Sultan.
But there was also good news. The Sultan made positive steps towards recovery and returned home early last month to a warm welcome.
Many had hoped his return would lead to a more settled mood in the palace. Instead the situation has escalated.
A week ago, there was a move to replace Tengku Faris with Tengku Abdul Aziz Hamzah as the Regent. The elderly Tengku Abdul Aziz is the senior brother of Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and sits on the Succession Council.
Datuk Wan Hashim Wan Daud, who claimed to be the Sultan’s private secretary, announced it at a press conference. Six hours later, the Regent’s side rebutted the statement, insisting that Tengku Faris was still the rightful Regent.
That same evening, police picked up Wan Hashim for questioning. He was released two days later and went straight into hospital.
Tengku Abdul Aziz has since been removed from the Succession Council. The Regent is also seeking a court declaration that Tengku Abdul Aziz’s appointment is invalid. Unquote
The long and short of it was in May 2009, Sultan Ismail Petra suffered a major stroke and was admitted to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. Tengku Faris was appointed Regent on May 25 in the Sultan’s absence.
On Sept 30 2009, Tengku Faris dismissed his younger brother, the Tengku Temenggong of Kelantan, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra, from the Succession Council, which has the power to determine succession to the throne should the Sultan be permanently incapacitated.
In turn, Tengku Fakhry filed an application at the High Court challenging his dismissal in December, and issued a letter to the state secretary purportedly from the Sultan reversing all actions and decisions made by the Regent, Tengku Faris. In January 2010, the High Court rejected Tengku Fakhry’s application.
