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Reference Library

Anak Nogori — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 04:36:57 GMT

This is a reference library for the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959, where we explain the key articles in detail. It sits alongside our commentary as a plain English guide to the constitutional text at the centre of the current dispute. Each entry explains what an Article does, reproduces the original wording, and links to the pieces where we have written about it. New entries are added as the situation develops.

The Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959

The First Part of the Laws of the Constitution, Negeri Sembilan, 1959

Chapter 3: The Yang di-Pertuan Besar

Article 7 - The Yang di-Pertuan Besar
Article 10 - Removal of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar
Article 11 - Duty of Undangs to Choose and Elect A New Yang di-Pertuan Besar

Chapter 5: The Ruling Chiefs

Article 14 - Undangs and Tunku Besar Tampin
Article 15 - Dato’ Shahbandar

Chapter 6: The Dewan Keadilan dan Undang

Article 16 - DKU
Article 17 - Membership
Article 22 - Minutes

Chapter 7: Honours and Dignities

Article 26 - His Highness, the fountain of honours and dignities

Chapter 8: General Provisions

Article 28 - Definition of the Ruler in the Second Part
Article 30 - Precedence among the Ruling Chiefs, set by the DKU
Article 32 - Bridge between Adat and Constitution

The Second Part of the Laws of the Constitution, Negeri Sembilan, 1959: The Machinery of the Government

Chapter 1: Preliminary

Article 34 - Dictionary clause for The Second Part. Defines “Ruler”

Chapter 2: Executive

Article 35 - Executive authority of the Ruler
Article 40 - Seven functions of the Ruler

Footnote:

How we present the text. The Constitution numbers its Articles in Roman numerals; we use Arabic numerals throughout for readability. And any constitutional text can be read more than one way, so the original document remains authoritative. We add the original text on every entry and encourage readers to read it directly.

A note on spelling. The 1959 text uses older spellings that differ from current usage, including “Sungai Ujong”, “Tengku Besar Sri Menanti”. We use the modern forms, Sungei Ujong, Tunku Besar and Seri Menanti, in our own writing, and preserve the original spelling wherever we reproduce the constitutional text directly.

Anak Nogori is independent commentary on the unfolding constitutional crisis in Negeri Sembilan, where centuries-old Adat Perpatih, royal succession law, and modern political manoeuvring are colliding in ways Malaysia has never seen before. If you find this useful, share it with someone who should be following this, or subscribe to receive the latest articles in your inbox.

What is Article 17 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959?

Anak Nogori — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 18:16:48 GMT

Article 17 defines the offices that carry the membership of the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU).

It covers three distinct matters:

It names eight offices whose holders sit as members by virtue of that office.
It creates a power to appoint further members, and says who may exercise it.
It then attaches a proviso about the Menteri Besar.

Because Article 17 defines the membership, it also supplies the denominator for Article 20, which sets the quorum, and for Article 19, which makes the Yang di-Pertuan Besar the presiding member. Anything the DKU does depends on the list in Article 17 being settled.

The eight core DKU members

“The Dewan shall consist of His Highness, the Ruling Chiefs, the Tengku Besar of Sri Menanti, Dato’ Shahbandar of Sungai Ujong…”

The eight members include:

“His Highness”, defined in Article 34 (an interpretation clause) as the person elected as the Yang di-Pertuan Besar by the Undangs under Article 7 to exercise the functions of Ruler under the Constitution or any law, or as a member of the Conference of Rulers. Article 19, which makes His Highness the presiding member, reads with that definition.
“Ruling Chief” as the Undang of the Luak of Sungei Ujong.
“Ruling Chief” as the Undang of the Luak of Jelebu.
“Ruling Chief” as the Undang of the Luak of Johol.
“Ruling Chief” as the Undang of the Luak of Rembau.
“Ruling Chief” as the Tengku Besar of Tampin.
Tunku Besar Seri Menanti, the most senior of the Putera Yang Empat (the four princes), conferred by the Yang di-Pertuan Besar in customary ceremony. The office has been held by Tunku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tuanku Muhriz since 22 February 2009, when the conferral was reported as only the third in 120 years (The Star, 23 February 2009). Tuanku Muhriz himself held the same seat before his own accession.
Dato’ Shahbandar of Sungei Ujong, established by Article 15(1), which states that he shall be the person lawfully elected as head of the Waris di Ayer in accordance with the custom of the Luak of Sungei Ujong.

The Constitution defines His Highness, the Ruling Chiefs, the Tunku Besar of Seri Menanti and the Dato' Shahbandar each as separate constitutional offices, and the order in which they appear reflects descending constitutional rank.

It is also worth noting that Luak Sungei Ujong supplies two of the eight named seats, while each of the other three Luak supplies one.

And any other appointed Malay members, and who prescribes their term

“…and such other Malay member or members as may from time to time be appointed for such period as may be prescribed by His Highness and the Undangs…”

Three things are established by that phrase.

Appointed membership carries a racial qualification, consistent with the qualifying conditions the Constitution applies to the throne under Article 7(3) and to the office of Menteri Besar under Article 36(2).
The appointment runs for a period rather than for life, and that period is fixed at the time of appointment.
And the power is joint, resting with the Yang di-Pertuan Besar together with the Undangs, so it takes both sides acting together.

The Menteri Besar’s attendance on State or National policy

“…provided that where the Dewan deliberates on State or National policy the Menteri Besar shall be invited to attend.”

The sentence closes with a proviso. Where the Dewan deliberates on State or National policy, the Menteri Besar shall be invited to attend.

The obligation falls on the invitation rather than on the attendance, and what it confers is presence rather than membership.

The Menteri Besar also appears in Article 16(2), which allows him to refer to it for advice any question relating to Malay custom, including questions of election, succession, removal or vacation of office of a Ruling Chief. Article 24 sits alongside both, permitting the Dewan to invite any person whose presence it considers desirable.

What Article 17 does not say

Article 17 lists the offices that comprise the members of the DKU. The questions it leaves open are the ones that arise when an office is in dispute.

Vacancy and contested title. Article 17 assumes each named office has one holder. Where a seat stands empty, or where two people claim it, the answer comes from elsewhere. Such questions are dealt with by Article 16, under which the DKU advises on the election, succession, removal or vacation of office of a Ruling Chief, with that advice made final and unchallengeable in any court by Article 16(3).
Removal of a member. Article 17 provides for the appointment for a prescribed period, and it stops there. Ex officio members leave the Dewan when they leave the office, by whatever route the office itself provides. In constitutional terms, an ex officio member is someone who holds a seat by virtue of holding another office, rather than by personal appointment or election to the body itself.
A ceiling on appointed members. The words “member or members” carry no upper figure. In principle the Yang di-Pertuan Besar and three Undangs acting together could appoint any number.
A definition of “State or National policy”. The Constitution does not define the expression "State or National policy". Whether advice on questions of Malay custom under Article 16 falls within that expression is therefore a matter of interpretation.

The membership question became the subject of court proceedings in May 2026. Six plaintiffs filed an originating summons at the Seremban High Court seeking the minutes of the DKU special sitting of 17 April 2026, claiming the entitlement as members of the DKU (The Star, 6 May 2026). That claim depends on Article 17: whether any individual is a member therefore depends on whether he lawfully holds one of those offices.

Article 17 names eight offices as members. The four Undangs hold office by Luak custom, the Tengku Besar of Tampin by descent, the Tunku Besar Seri Menanti by royal conferral, the Dato' Shahbandar by the custom of the Waris di Ayer (water lineage), and the Yang di-Pertuan Besar by the Undangs' election under Article 7.

Anyone who wants to change who sits in the DKU has to go somewhere else and change who holds an office, which describes a good deal of what has happened since April 2026.

Footnotes:

¹ The Constitution numbers its Articles in Roman numerals. This publication uses Arabic numerals for readability.

² The Constitution spells the Luak "Sungai Ujong" and the title "Tengku Besar of Sri Menanti". This publication uses "Sungei Ujong" and "Tunku Besar of Seri Menanti" throughout.

Our posts referencing Article 17

What is Article 16 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959?

Anak Nogori — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:36:39 GMT

No provision of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution has featured more prominently in the state's constitutional crisis since April 2026 than Article 16.

Article 16 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959 creates the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU), defines the matters on which it gives advice, and provides that such advice shall be final and shall not be challenged in court.

What each clause means

Article 16(1): The council, the subject matter, and the persons who may refer a question to it

(1) There shall be a Dewan Keadilan dan Undang to be called in English “The Council of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar and the Ruling Chiefs” hereinafter referred to as the Dewan to advice on questions relating to Malay Custom in any part of the State including questions relating to the election or succession to or removal from or vacation of office of any of the Ruling Chiefs referred to in Article XIV or on other matters which may be referred to it by His Highness or any of the Ruling Chiefs and to exercise such functions as may be conferred upon it by this Constitution or any other written law.

The clause does four things at once.

It establishes the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang and gives it an English name, “The Council of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar and the Ruling Chiefs”.

It fixes the subject matter: questions relating to Malay Custom in any part of the State.

It then spells out one category of such questions, being the election of, succession to, removal from, or vacation of office of any of the Ruling Chiefs referred to in Article 14. Article 14 covers the four Undangs of Sungai Ujong, Jelebu, Johol and Rembau, and the Tunku Besar Tampin.

Finally it adds two further heads of work: other matters referred to the Dewan by the Yang di-Pertuan Besar or by any of the Ruling Chiefs, and functions conferred on the Dewan by the Constitution or by any other written law. Article 30 is an example of the last of these, giving the DKU the determination of precedence among the Ruling Chiefs and other dignitaries.

Article 16 is concerned with the advice given by the Dewan on questions of Malay Custom and the legal consequences that attach to that advice. The customary act of choosing or removing an Undang belongs to the Luak institutions.

Article 16(2): The Menteri Besar’s power of referral

(2) The Menteri Besar may refer to the Dewan for its advice any question relating to Malay Custom in any part of the State including questions relating to the election or succession to or removal from or vacation of office of any of the Ruling Chiefs referred to in Article XIV.

The Menteri Besar may refer a question of Malay Custom to the Dewan for its advice, including any of the four events listed in Article 16(1) concerning a Ruling Chief.

The word is “may”. The clause confers a discretion rather than imposing a duty, and it does not set a timetable nor an obligation on the Dewan to answer.

It is worth reading Article 16(2) alongside Article 17. The Menteri Besar is not a member of the Dewan. Article 17 provides only that he shall be invited to attend where the Dewan deliberates on State or National policy. Article 16(2) therefore gives the elected government a way to put a question, without a seat and without a vote.

Article 16(3): The finality of the advice, and the bar on challenge in court

(3) The advice of the Dewan on questions relating to Malay Custom in any part of the State including advice on any question relation to the election or succession to or removal from or vacation of office of any of the Ruling Chiefs referred to in Article XIV shall be final and shall not be challenged or called in question in any court on any ground.

The clause does two separate things. It makes the advice final. It then bars a court from entertaining a challenge, and the words “on any ground” are the widest formulation available to a drafter.

The clause is not original to 1959. The Article has been amended once, by the notification gazetted as W.K.N.S. 546/1982 and in force from 29 July 1982, which gave Article 16 its present three-clause shape and inserted the bar in clause (3). The year before, the Federal Court had declined jurisdiction in a Negeri Sembilan dispute over the election of an Undang, and Salleh Abas FJ observed in the course of that judgment that Article 16 as it then stood contained no words stating that its validity could not be questioned in any court (GK Legal, 6 June 2026).

Article 16(3) is the provision counsel for the DKU relied on at the Seremban High Court on 13 May 2026, arguing that the court had no jurisdiction to hear a suit over the events of 17 April (Free Malaysia Today, 13 May 2026).

What Article 16 does not say

It says nothing about the Yang di-Pertuan Besar. The Article is confined to the Ruling Chiefs referred to in Article 14. The office of Yang di-Pertuan Besar is dealt with in Articles 7 to 12, and the power to call upon him to withdraw or abdicate sits with the Undangs under Article 10, following a full and complete enquiry. The DKU has no stated role in that process, which means the finality in Article 16(3) has nothing to attach to on that question.

It gives the Luak institutions no express right of referral. Article 16(1) names the Yang di-Pertuan Besar and the Ruling Chiefs as the persons who may refer a matter, and Article 16(2) adds the Menteri Besar. The Lembaga Adat, the Buapak, the Ibu Soko, the waris, and the office-holder whose position is the question itself appear nowhere on that list. The customary structures that perform the act have no textual right to bring the resulting question forward, and no express procedural role.

It requires no reasons and no publication. Article 16 sets no obligation to state grounds, to hear the person affected, or to make the advice public. Article 22 requires that minutes be kept of all proceedings of the Dewan, and it stops there. Article 16 does not require the Dewan to publish reasons for its advice. Combined with Article 16(3), this places considerable weight on the institution's own internal discipline.

It does not define Malay Custom. The phrase carries the entire weight of the Article, and it is left undefined here and in the interpretation provisions of Article 34. Article 32 preserves the ancient constitution and ancient custom of the State so far as they are not inconsistent with the First Part, which is the nearest the Constitution comes to marking out the boundary.

The bar in Article 16(3) attaches to advice. Article 16(3) is drafted to protect advice on Malay Custom. On the election, succession, removal or vacation of office of an Undang, the Dewan's function is advisory, and that advice is what the finality clause covers.

Article 16 establishes the DKU, the questions it may determine, who may refer those questions, and the effect of its advice.

Footnote: The Constitution numbers its Articles in Roman numerals. This publication uses Arabic numerals for readability.

Our posts referencing Article 16

Sources:

What is Article 15 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959?

Anak Nogori — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 07:27:31 GMT

Chapter 5 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959 deals with the Ruling Chiefs. It comes in two parts. Part A, Article 14, covers the four Undangs and the Tengku Besar of Tampin.

Part B, Article 15, contains a single Article devoted to one office in one Luak, the Dato’ Shahbandar of Sungei Ujong.

What each clause means

Article 15(1): Who is Dato’ Shahbandar Sungai Ujong and how he is elected

(1) Dato’ Shahbandar Sungai Ujong shall be the person lawfully elected as head of the Waris di Ayer in accordance with the custom of the luak of Sungai Ujong.

The drafting mirrors Article 14(1), which describes the four Undangs in the same terms. The Constitution names the office and then sends the reader to customary law for how the office is elected. Luak custom determines who holds the office, and the Constitution recognises whoever has been lawfully elected under Luak custom.

The Waris di Ayer (literally, "the heirs of the water") is one of the principal hereditary lineage groupings (waris) within the Luak, alongside the Waris di Darat and the Klana Perut Hulu and Perut Hilir.

Article 15(2): The duty of consultation between the Dato' Shahbandar and the Undang on matters affecting the affairs of the Luak

(2) Without prejudice to the prerogatives, powers and jurisdiction of Dato’ Klana as Undang, and subject to the provisions of this Constitution, there shall be consultation between him and Dato’ Shahbandar in all matters affecting the affairs of the luak of Sungai Ujong.

The clause opens with two qualifiers before it reaches its operative words. The first preserves the prerogatives, powers and jurisdiction of the Dato’ Klana as Undang of Sungei Ujong. The second makes the whole clause subject to the rest of the Constitution.

Only then does the duty appear: there shall be consultation between the Dato’ Klana and the Dato’ Shahbandar in all matters affecting the affairs of the Luak. The obligation is mandatory in form, since the Constitution uses “shall”. Its subject matter is expressed in broad terms, extending to "all matters affecting the affairs of the Luak. Its effect stops at consultation, and the clause is silent on agreement, concurrence, veto or joint decision.

The separate treatment of the Dato’ Shahbandar reflects the distinctive constitutional position of Sungei Ujong. Although he is not a Ruling Chief, the Constitution singles the office out for express recognition, requires consultation between him and the Undang on Luak affairs, and separately makes him a member of the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang under Article 17. No equivalent constitutional provision exists for any other subordinate customary office.

What Article 15 does not say

The Dato’ Shahbandar is not a Ruling Chief. Article 34 defines “Ruling Chiefs” as the four Undangs together with the Tengku Besar of Tampin, and defines “the Undangs” as the Ruling Chiefs excluding the Tengku Besar of Tampin. The Dato’ Shahbandar falls outside both terms, so the functions the Constitution reserves to the Undangs, including the election of a Yang di-Pertuan Besar under Article 7 and Article 11 and the appointment of a Regent under Article 12, lie beyond his office.
However, he is a member of the DKU. Article 17 names the Dato’ Shahbandar of Sungei Ujong separately as a member of the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU), alongside the Ruling Chiefs and the Tunku Besar of Seri Menanti. That seat, and its effect on the quorum under Article 20, comes from Article 17 rather than from Article 15.
It says nothing about vacation of office or allowances. Article 14(3) provides a post-office allowance for an Undang or the Tengku Besar of Tampin, and sets out when the Legislative Assembly may withhold it. Article 15 carries no equivalent and describes no route out of the office.
It gives no role in proclaiming the Undang of Sungei Ujong. The Undang holds the title Dato’ Klana Petra, the office Article 15(2) refers to as Dato’ Klana. Any role for the Dato' Shahbandar in proclaiming a new holder rests on the customary law of the Luak rather than on the Constitution.

Article 15 brings the Dato’ Shahbandar into the Constitution but leaves the substance of the office to Adat, while requiring consultation with the Undang on all matters affecting the affairs of the Luak.

Footnote:
¹The Constitution numbers its Articles in Roman numerals. This publication uses Arabic numerals for readability.

²The Constitution spells the Luak "Sungai Ujong" and the title "Tengku Besar of Sri Menanti". This publication uses "Sungei Ujong" and "Tunku Besar of Seri Menanti" throughout.

Our posts referencing Article 15 or Dato’ Shahbandar

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What is Article 14 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959

Anak Nogori — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:06:10 GMT

Article 14 opens Chapter 5 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959, headed “The Ruling Chiefs”.

It runs to four clauses and does two jobs. The first two say who holds the five chieftainships and by what method. The last two deal with money.

The Article is deliberately sparse. It identifies who holds each office and leaves almost every procedural question to the customary law of each Luak.

The Constitution supplies the framework and Adat supplies the detail, and most misreadings of Article 14 come from different interpretations, a traditional reading of customary law set against a strict reading of the Constitution.

What each clause means

Article 14(1): Who the four Undangs are, and by what method they hold office

The Undangs of the territories of Sungai Ujong, Jelebu, Johol and Rembau shall be persons lawfully elected in accordance with the custom of their respective luaks.

This is the hinge of the chapter. The Constitution states that an Undang is elected, then hands over the whole question of how: who may take part, what qualifies a candidate, how a nomination is made, when the process must run, and how a disputed result is settled are all left to the custom of the Luak.

The broad structure is similar across the four Luak. Authority rises from the perut (matrilineal sub-lineage) through the Buapak (sub-clan elder) and the Lembaga (clan chief) to the kerapatan (customary council), and eligibility is confined to recognised Biduanda waris lines.

Each Luak then applies its own rules on eligibility, consultation and succession.

“Elected” in Article 14(1) therefore means selection by Adat rather than by majority vote. Decisions are reached by muafakat (consensus), and a candidate who commands the larger number while a principal waris withholds agreement has not been elected in the sense the clause uses. This is why objections raised during 2026 have alleged the absence of full muafakat rather than disputed a count.

Where rival gatherings each claim to have reached muafakat, Article 14 does not supply a mechanism for choosing between them. That question falls to Article 16 and the jurisdiction of the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU).

Article 14(2): Tampin, the hereditary exception, and what happens when the heir is a minor

The Office of Tengku Besar Tampin shall be hereditary by primogeniture amongst the male descendants lawfully-begotten in the male line of Tengku Syed Abdul Hamid bin Tengku Syed Shaban but if the heir is under the age of eighteen years according to the Gregorian calendar the office shall remain in abeyance until he shall have attained such age.

Tampin is the exception in an otherwise elective chapter. The office passes by patrilineal primogeniture within a single named line, and the clause fixes the founder of that line by name.

Two theories of legitimacy therefore sit in adjacent clauses. The four Undangs hold office because a Luak chose them under matrilineal custom, which leaves their tenure answerable to the body that conferred it. The Tengku Besar of Tampin holds office by birth order within a male line, a reflection of Tampin’s separate history as a territory attached to Negeri Sembilan on different terms from the four core Luak.

The abeyance provision is the practical part. Where the next in line is under eighteen by the Gregorian calendar, the office pauses, and the Constitution provides no regency or acting holder for Tampin in the interval.

Article 14(3): The pension on leaving office, and the grounds on which it can be withheld

On any of the Undangs vacating or on being removed from office in accordance with the custom of his luak, or in the event of the Tengku Besar Tampin, vacating office there shall be paid to such Undang or Tengku Besar, as the case may be such monthly allowance for life, not exceeding one quarter of the monthly allowance paid to him while in office, which the Legislative Assembly shall by Resolution determine:
Provided that the Legislative Assembly may terminate or withhold such allowance if the recipient thereof does any act prejudicial to the interests of the State or if he instigates any person to commit any treasonable act against the reigning Yang di-Pertuan Besar or if he conspires with any person or foreign Government to do any act likely to cause injury to the State or its interests.

This clause is about money, and it is the most frequently misread provision in the Constitution.

Read the sentence structure. The opening words are a temporal condition describing when a payment obligation is triggered, namely an Undang vacating office or being removed in accordance with the custom of his Luak. The operative verb is “there shall be paid”.

Article 14(3) acknowledges in passing that removal happens under Luak custom, and then gets on with setting a pension. Removal itself is a customary act of the Luak.

Where a question arises about whether that act occurred, the route runs through Article 16, under which the DKU advises on questions of Malay custom including the removal from or vacation of office of a Ruling Chief, and under Article 16(3) that advice is final and cannot be challenged in any court on any ground.

The terms of the pension are worth stating plainly:

The payment runs for life.
The ceiling is one quarter of the monthly allowance the holder received in office.
The figure is set by resolution of the Legislative Assembly, so a departed chief’s income is determined by elected politicians rather than by the palace, the DKU, or his own Luak.

The proviso then allows the same Assembly to terminate or withhold the allowance on three grounds: acts prejudicial to the interests of the State, instigating any person to commit a treasonable act against the reigning Yang di-Pertuan Besar, and conspiring with any person or foreign government to injure the State or its interests.

The wording tracks the proviso at Article 9(5), which governs the allowance payable to a Yang di-Pertuan Besar who has abdicated. The framers used one template for departed rulers and departed chiefs alike.

Article 14(4): Where the money comes from, and why that matters

The allowance payable under Clause (3) of this Article shall be a charge on the Consolidated Fund.

A charge on the Consolidated Fund is a payment authorised by the Constitution itself, which means it flows without needing to be voted through in the annual supply exercise. The effect is insulation. The sum cannot be quietly starved by omitting it from a budget line, and the Assembly can reach it only by acting openly under the Article 14(3) proviso, by resolution.

What Article 14 does not say

Four propositions are commonly attached to this Article that its text will not carry, and one limit is worth adding.

On removal powers. The Article records that removal occurs according to the custom of the Luak and attaches a pension to that event. The grounds, the deciding body, and the procedure all sit within customary law, and the DKU’s function of advising on questions of custom is conferred by Article 16 rather than by anything in Article 14.

On the role of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar. The Article assigns the choice to the Luak. The June 2026 installations followed the sequence it contemplates, with each Luak first settling on its candidate under Adat and the candidate then presented before the Yang di-Pertuan Besar at an Istiadat Mengadap (audience of presentation) at Istana Besar Seri Menanti. What the throne supplies is recognition and effect, on a choice already made.

On a unified procedure. Article 14 does not prescribe a single method for electing the Undangs. Instead, it recognises the customary law of each Luak. Although the broad structure is similar, with authority exercised through the institutions of the perut, Buapak and Lembaga, and eligibility generally confined to designated Biduanda hereditary lineages, the detailed procedures differ from one Luak to another.

Rembau alternates between the Waris Jakun, whose chief bears the title Dato’ Lela Maharaja, and the Waris Jawa, whose chief bears the title Dato’ Sedia Raja. The Buapak Delapan first determines the lubuk benih, the village from which the candidate is to be chosen. The members of that village then select the candidate, after which the Lembaga Tiang Balai proclaims the result.
Sungai Ujong draws its Dato’ Klana from the Waris Klana, divided between the Perut Hulu and Perut Hilir. The election is conducted in practice by three electors, whose decision is expected to be unanimous in accordance with the principle of kebulatan. Where unanimity cannot be achieved, the Lembaga Tiang Balai may nominate a candidate of their own choosing.
Jelebu limits eligibility to three designated waris within the Biduanda clan, with succession rotating between them in a fixed order. Nomination begins within the relevant perut, passes through the Dato’ Ombi and Dato’ Mentri for verification of lineage and customary qualifications, and concludes with election by a council of eight Lembaga. The preference is for unanimity, although historical precedent exists for decisions by majority.
Johol is less fully documented in the published procedural literature than Rembau, Sungai Ujong and Jelebu.

Most of the principal English-language studies of Negeri Sembilan’s customary electoral systems were written between 1910 and 1946, and customary practice within each Luak has continued to evolve since. Article 14 recognises the custom of each Luak separately, so an objection valid under the custom of one Luak may not apply in another.

On disputed questions of custom. Article 14 assumes a Luak capable of producing one lawful answer. Where it cannot, the question passes to the DKU, which advises on questions of Malay custom under Article 16.

On enforcement. Article 14 says who the Undang is, and the state has to give effect to it. The 14th Undang Luak Johol was removed by his Luak in March 2016 and was still living in the Balai Undang more than a year later, until the state government cut off the water and electricity. The state's position was that the residence belongs to the office rather than to the man. Undangs have been removed before, and the state's power over an official residence has been tested and used.

Article 14 is often misunderstood as the Constitution choosing the Undangs. In reality, it leaves the choice where Adat has always placed it: with each Luak acting according to its own custom.

Footnote: The Constitution numbers its Articles in Roman numerals. This publication uses Arabic numerals for readability.

Our posts referencing Article 14

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What is Article 11 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959

Anak Nogori — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:07:08 GMT

Article 11: Undangs to choose a new Yang di-Pertuan Besar (N.S. P.U. 2/1994)

In the event of His Highness ceasing to be a Yang di-Pertuan Besar by virtue of the provisions of Article 9, 10(1)(b) or 10A(2), it shall be the duty of the Undangs to choose and elect another Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

The sentence divides instead into four operative limbs, each of which does distinct work.

“In the event of His Highness ceasing to be a Yang di-Pertuan Besar”

The provision is conditional. It is triggered by a completed event, the cessation of office by a living Ruler. Until that event has occurred, Article 11 sits dormant.

“by virtue of the provisions of Article 9, 10 (1) (b) or 10A(2)”

Article 11 provides three gateways:

Article 9. Voluntary abdication. An Instrument of Abdication under the Sign Manual, the Royal Seal and the State Seal, executed before the Undangs and the Menteri Besar, and published in the Gazette.
Article 10(1)(b). Abdication at the request of the Undangs, available only where they have determined after what Article 10(1) calls a full and complete enquiry that a listed ground is made out, and where the proclamation required by the proviso to Article 10(2) is issued under the hands of the Undangs and the Menteri Besar.
Article 10A(2). Conviction in the Special Court with a sentence of imprisonment exceeding one day, absent a free pardon, followed again by a proclamation under the hands of the Undangs and the Menteri Besar.

Death sits outside Article 11 altogether. Article 7(4) governs succession on the death of a Yang di-Pertuan Besar leaving male issue, and supplies the ordered classes of eligible candidates. Article 11 addresses the vacancy that arises while the previous holder is living.

“it shall be the duty of the Undangs”

The Constitution imposes a duty rather than conferring a discretionary power to decide whether an election should occur. Once a vacancy has arisen through one of the three gateways, the constitutional duty to fill it falls upon the Undangs of Sungai Ujong, Jelebu, Johol and Rembau, the same four identified as electors in Article 7(2). Article 29 provides that duties imposed on the Undangs under this Part are duly performed if performed by at least three of them, or by as many as are living at the time.

Article 29 sets a floor for the validity of the act. Whether a person signing as Undang in fact holds that office is a separate question, determined inside the Luak and advised upon by the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) under Article 16, with that advice made final by Article 16(3).

“to choose and elect another Yang di-Pertuan Besar”

The eligibility conditions come from Article 7(3): male, of the Malay race, of sound mind, professing the religion of the State, and a lawfully-begotten descendant in the male line of Raja Radin ibni Raja Lenggang. Beyond those conditions, Article 11 offers the single word “another”.

What Article 11 does not say

The provision leaves out most of the detail a reader might expect it to supply: when, by whom, on what majority, and in what form.

Any time limit within which the choice must be made.
Any procedure for convening the Undangs, deliberating, or voting.
Any quorum requirement beyond the three-Undang floor supplied by Article 29.
Any role for the Menteri Besar in the choice itself. The Menteri Besar’s signature appears in the provisions that create the vacancy, at Article 9(2), Article 10(2) and Article 10A(2), and disappears from the provision that fills it.
Any role for the State Legislative Assembly, the DKU, or the Conference of Rulers in the selection.
Any requirement that reasons be recorded, that the sitting be public, or that the outcome be published in any particular form.
Death falls outside Article 11 altogether. Succession following the death of a Yang di-Pertuan Besar is dealt with expressly by Article 7(4), which supplies ordered classes of eligible candidates. Article 11 instead governs vacancies arising while the previous holder remains living. Whether the order of succession set out in Article 7(4) also applies to an election under Article 11 is left unanswered by the Constitution.

The design point is worth pondering. The 1959 drafters concentrated the choice of the Head of State in a body of four, imposed no published procedure on it, and provided for no review of the outcome. The breadth of that discretion can be seen in two historical examples: the decision of 1967, when the Undangs passed over the 19-year-old Tuanku Muhriz in favour of Tuanku Ja’afar, and the decision of 2008, when they chose Tuanku Muhriz at 59. Both were lawful, and both illustrate how much room sits inside a sentence of forty-two words.

One point of sequence deserves emphasis. Article 11 does not itself create a vacancy. It assumes one already exists. The duty to choose a new Yang di-Pertuan Besar therefore arises only after a vacancy has lawfully come into being under Article 9, Article 10 or Article 10A.

Footnote: The Constitution numbers its Articles in Roman numerals. This publication uses Arabic numerals for readability.

Our posts referencing Article 11

Sources:

The Laws of the Constitution of Negeri Sembilan, 1959

Anak Nogori Weekly Round-Up (13-19 July, 2026)

Anak Nogori — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 02:00:43 GMT

What happened last week

13 July 2026, Mon: DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke told Channel NewsAsia that keeping the royal institution out of the political arena was his party’s first principle, and that the Negeri Sembilan dispute should be resolved within the royal institution under its own customs and laws. Loke is defending the Chennah state seat (Channel NewsAsia, 17 July 2026).

14 July 2026, Tue: Pakatan Harapan announced its full slate of 36 candidates at a ceremony in Kuala Pilah. Prime Minister and Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim used the occasion to tell all contesting parties to keep the royal institution and the Federal Constitution out of the campaign, saying political competition should proceed without slander or attacks on the institutions the country rests on (Free Malaysia Today, 14 July 2026).

15 July 2026, Wed: Barisan Nasional launched its election machinery at Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium in Paroi, where chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi unveiled the coalition’s first 25 candidates. Barisan Nasional deputy chairman Mohamad Hasan confirmed he would defend Rantau, the seat he has held since 2004, and that Negeri Sembilan UMNO liaison chairman Jalaluddin Alias would defend Pertang (Malay Mail, 16 July 2026).

15 July 2026, Wed: In the same announcement, Barisan Nasional left 11 of the 36 seats unfilled while it worked towards an electoral understanding with a party its leaders described as a “trusted friend”, with Mohamad Hasan saying the remaining candidates would be named once discussions concluded (Malay Mail, 16 July 2026).

17 July 2026, Fri: Malaysiakini reported that dismissal letters dated 15 July had been served on three members of the Council of Dato’ Lembaga (the customary body of Rembau nobles ranked immediately below the Undang) of Luak Rembau.

The letters, issued over the signature of Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) secretary Raja Norazli Raja Nordin, cited an instruction from Hassan Ab Hamid, installed as 22nd Undang of Luak Rembau on 27 June, confirming the revocation of the hereditary titles of Abdul Razak Yassin, Zaharuddin Idris and Azmi Ahmad.

The revocations are expressed to take effect retrospectively from dates in August 2024, when Abdul Rahim Yasin was the recognised Undang of Rembau, and separate edicts declare actions taken by the three since those dates null and void.

Abdul Razak, who holds the title Dato’ Perba, confirmed receipt and said the three do not accept the decision, on the grounds that Hassan was not appointed by the Council of Dato’ Lembaga, that the DKU and its secretary should not have issued the letters, and that the injunction preserves the position of Abdul Rahim and the other chieftains as it stood (Malaysiakini, 17 July 2026).

17 July 2026, Fri: The Election Commission reported that 464 nomination forms had been sold and 70 prospective candidates had paid their deposits (Free Malaysia Today, 18 July 2026).

18 July 2026, Sat: Nomination day for the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election. Eight centres opened from 9am to 10am. The Election Commission received 103 nomination papers and rejected none, confirming a 103-candidate field across 36 seats. In the outgoing assembly, dissolved on 5 June, Pakatan Harapan held 17 of those seats, Barisan Nasional 14 and Perikatan Nasional five. Pakatan Harapan is fielding 36 candidates and Barisan Nasional 25. Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia entered as a solo contender in 24 seats, two of which are allocated to Parti Bersepakat Hak Rakyat Malaysia contesting under the Bersatu logo. The campaign period runs to 11.59pm on 31 July (The Star, 18 July 2026,The Star, 18 July 2026,Channel NewsAsia, 17 July 2026).

18 July 2026, Sat: State police chief Alzafny Ahmad reported that the nomination process passed without untoward incident, with turnout at each centre ranging from about 1,000 to 2,500 supporters. Jempol recorded the highest turnout and Kuala Pilah the lowest (The Star, 18 July 2026).

19 July 2026, Sun: Speaking at a Barisan Nasional machinery meeting for the Juasseh state seat in Kuala Pilah, Johor Menteri Besar and Johor Barisan Nasional chairman Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the DNA of UMNO and Barisan Nasional had never been marked by penderhakaan (disloyalty to the Ruler), and described allegations that Negeri Sembilan Barisan Nasional leaders were penderhaka (disloyal to the Ruler), following the state's recent political crisis, as fitnah (slander) to be answered with facts.

“UMNO lahir dekat Istana Besar Johor, kita tidak akan derhaka dengan institusi Raja” (UMNO was born near the Johor Grand Palace, and we will not be disloyal to the institution of the Ruler), he said.

He urged candidates and the Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings to explain the issues surrounding the change of the state government and rebut the allegations against the party, citing the 2018 general election as a lesson in the dangers of allowing opponents' narratives to go unanswered. He also pointed to Johor's election result as evidence of what cooperation between UMNO, MCA and MIC could achieve. (Berita Harian, 19 July 2026).

Commentary worth reading

14 July 2026, Tue: “Don’t drag royals into Negeri Sembilan polls, Anwar tells parties” in Free Malaysia Today carries the fuller wording of the Prime Minister’s remarks at Kuala Pilah, including his statement that he has never rejected the legal provisions governing Negeri Sembilan, among them the position of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, the four Undangs and the Tunku Besar of Tampin (Free Malaysia Today, 14 July 2026).

17 July 2026, Fri: “Why Negeri Sembilan’s royal dispute could become a campaign flashpoint in state polls” in Channel NewsAsia is the most comprehensive survey of the week. Universiti Malaya’s Awang Azman Awang Pawi expects contesting coalitions to make use of the royal impasse and sets out how each of the three blocs would position itself.

Set against that, the report records several party leaders playing down the prospect of politicising the standoff at all. Loke gave that answer on 13 July, Pakatan Harapan election director Amirudin Shari said in June that the election should stay distinct from the monarchy dispute, and Barisan Nasional chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on 29 June that his coalition would stay clear of proceedings involving the royal institution, in his phrase “We must be outside that circle”.

Lawyer GK Ganesan sets out why an election answers a question of confidence in a government rather than a question of title, and constitutional law lecturer Ikmal Hisham Md Tah raises the question of which claimant would appoint a Menteri Besar once polling closes (Channel NewsAsia, 17 July 2026).

One description in the article warrants comment. It states that the state's “four Undangs” proclaimed Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Jaafar as the 12th Yang di-Pertuan Besar on 5 June, and elsewhere refers to the four chieftains in the present tense.

On this publication’s reading, Mubarak Dohak ceased to be Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong on 17 April 2026 after his removal under Luak custom was acknowledged by the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) under Article 16. If so, the 5 June ceremony was attended by three serving Undangs and one removed office-holder.

By the time the article was published, the composition had changed again, with Muhammad Faris Johari installed as the 11th Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong and Hassan Ab Hamid as the 22nd Undang of Luak Rembau on 27 June.

The narrower point is simply that the composition of the “Undang Yang Empat” has been disputed since April and has since changed twice, making an unqualified reference to "the four Undangs" questionable.

For that reason, this publication uses the formulation "Mubarak and the three Undangs", as explained our article There Are Three Undangs. So Why Does Mainstream Media Keep Referring to "Undang Yang Empat"?

18 July 2026, Sat: “After two strikes, Anwar needs a home run in Negeri Sembilan” in The Straits Times is the clearest account of why a state of roughly 900,000 registered voters carries weight out of proportion to its size.

The article sets the contest against Pakatan Harapan’s showing in Sabah last November and in Johor on 11 July, notes that the DAP congress and the PKR and UMNO assemblies all fall within a fortnight of polling day, and reads the seat allocations as a possible rehearsal for a wider realignment among Malay parties before national polls due by early 2028. This article is paywalled but can be read here. (The Straits Times, 18 July 2026).

18 July 2026: “Negeri Sembilan state election: Four high-stakes seats to watch amid a royal tussle” The Straits Times picks out four seats and explains what makes each one worth watching.

Linggi. Menteri Besar Aminuddin Harun leaves Sikamat after four terms to contest this Malay-majority UMNO stronghold, which sits inside his Port Dickson parliamentary seat. Three-cornered, against incumbent Mohd Faizal Ramli of UMNO, who took 55.1 per cent in 2023, and Zamri Md Said of Bersatu. Aminuddin puts his own chances at 50-50.
Pertang. Jalaluddin Alias of UMNO defending on 66.5 per cent from 2023, and widely tipped as the next Menteri Besar should Barisan Nasional take a majority, though he declined to confirm it and said the choice rests with Zahid. First non-straight fight in a decade.
Chennah. Anthony Loke in a seat that is 47 per cent Malay, up against John Siow Kong Choon of MCA. He won 61.5 per cent in 2023 with UMNO alongside him and 50.9 per cent in 2018 without. He also puts himself at about 50 per cent.
Lenggeng. Handed to UMNO under the 2023 seat-sharing deal and now contested again. Mohd Asna Amin of UMNO won it by 50.7% (a 3.5 per cent margin), against Zarinna Abu Zarin of Amanah and Zool Amali Hussin of Bersatu (The Straits Times, 18 July 2026).

What we are watching for next week

19 to 31 July 2026: The 14-day campaign period, closing at 11.59pm on 31 July.

The Rembau dismissals: Whether the three affected office-holders pursue the matter through the Luak, through the DKU, or through the courts, and whether further letters follow.

28 July 2026, Tuesday: Two matters are listed before Justice Roz Mawar Rozain at the Seremban High Court. The first is the application testing whether the court has jurisdiction at all, given the terms of Article 16(3). The second is the substantive committal application against six individuals, among them the removed Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong, Mubarak Dohak. The jurisdictional question is the structural question, because if the court concludes it lacks jurisdiction under Article 16(3), that finding would affect how the remaining proceedings can continue

28 July 2026, Tuesday: Early voting, as fixed by the Election Commission.

1 August 2026, Saturday: Polling day across all 36 seats.

Summary

While campaigning formally began with nomination day, developments in Rembau showed that the constitutional dispute continued evolving independently of the election, despite repeated appeals from political leaders to keep the customary laws and monarchy outside campaign politics.

New posts written by this publication last week

Two entries this week take a closer look at the constitutional text itself, setting out what each Article says, explaining it in simple English, as well as noting what says as well as what it leaves unsaid:

What Is Article 7 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution? — The Article that establishes the office of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar and fixes the line from which the holder may be drawn.
What Is Article 10 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution? — The only route by which the Undangs may move against a sitting Yang di-Pertuan Besar, setting out the grounds, the full and complete enquiry the Article requires first, and the two things they may call upon Him to do: withdraw from His duties for a fixed period, or abdicate.

This will become a larger repository of constitutional explanations.

About Weekly Round-Ups

Weekly Round-Ups are published every Monday morning. Each round-up covers what happened the previous week, what we are watching for in the week ahead, and links to posts published that week.

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Sources:

What is Article 10 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959

Anak Nogori — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:54:25 GMT

What each clause means

Article 10(1): The conditions, the grounds, and the call

If it is considered and determined after full and complete enquiry by the Undangs that His Highness after His appointment as Yang di-Pertuan Besar has developed any great and serious defect derogatory to the qualities of a Yang di-Pertuan Besar such as insanity, blindness, dumbness or has become possessed of any base quality on account of which He would not be permitted by the Hukum Syarak (Islamic law) to be Yang di-Pertuan Besar or that His Highness has done any overt act detrimental to the sanctity, honour and dignity of a Yang di-Pertuan Besar or has deliberately disregarded the provisions of this Constitution, the Undangs may call upon Him —
(a) to withdraw from performing His duties for a period to be determined by the Undangs; or
(b) to abdicate and relinquish His prerogatives, rights, powers and privileges.

This is one very long sentence in the printed text, and it does three separate things. Taken apart, it reads more easily.

First, a condition that must be satisfied before anything else happens. The matter must be “considered and determined after full and complete enquiry by the Undangs”. An enquiry comes first. Whatever follows depends on it having taken place.

Second, the grounds. The enquiry must find one of the following. The grounds are specific and limited:

that His Highness, after his appointment, has developed a great and serious defect derogatory to the qualities of a Yang di-Pertuan Besar, such as insanity, blindness or dumbness
that he has become possessed of a base quality on account of which the Hukum Syarak (Islamic law) would not permit him to be Yang di-Pertuan Besar
that he has done an overt act detrimental to the sanctity, honour and dignity of a Yang di-Pertuan Besar
that he has deliberately disregarded the provisions of the Constitution

The words “after His appointment” is worth pausing on, and worth reading carefully. Article 10 addresses what has happened since he took the throne. A grievance predating the appointment is not what this Article is for.

Third, what the Undangs may then do. They may call upon him either to withdraw from performing his duties for a period they determine, under 10(1)(a), or to abdicate and relinquish his prerogatives, rights, powers and privileges, under 10(1)(b). The choice between the two belongs to the Undangs. The question of whether the requirements of Article 10(1) were in fact satisfied in any particular case is a separate issue.

Article 10(2): What follows the call

On being called upon to withdraw from performing his duties as aforesaid, His Highness shall cease to exercise the functions and powers of Ruler of the State for the period so determined and during such period a Regent or a Council of Regency appointed in the manner hereinafter provided shall exercise such functions or powers or on being called upon to abdicate He shall thereupon cease to be Yang di-Pertuan Besar:
Provided that as soon as possible thereafter a proclamation to that effect shall be issued under the hands of the Undangs and the Menteri Besar.

If the call is to withdraw, His Highness ceases to exercise the functions and powers of Ruler for the period determined, and a Regent or Council of Regency exercises them in the meantime. If the call is to abdicate, he “shall thereupon cease to be Yang di-Pertuan Besar”.

The cessation follows from the call itself, with nothing further required to make it effective, which is why every word of 10(1) carries so much weight. If a valid call ends a reign, then validity is the whole question, and validity rests on two things: that a full and complete enquiry was held on one of the four grounds, and that the persons making the call were the Undangs.

The proviso: the proclamation

A proclamation “shall be issued under the hands of the Undangs and the Menteri Besar” as soon as possible thereafter. “Under the hands of” means signed by. The proclamation must therefore carry the signatures of the Undangs and of the Menteri Besar, and this is the only point in Article 10 at which the Menteri Besar appears.

Because the proclamation comes afterwards, it records a cessation that has already occurred rather than bringing one about. The Constitution is silent on what happens where a Menteri Besar declines to sign.

Article 10A: The 1994 insertion that operates outside Article 10, where the Special Court replaces the enquiry and the call

Article 10A was inserted in 1994 (N.S. P.U. 2/1994) and opens with the words “Notwithstanding the provisions of Article X”. It operates outside the machinery described above, and the enquiry, the grounds and the call have no part in it.

Article 10A(1): What a charge in the Special Court does to the exercise of the office

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 10, where the Yang di-Pertuan Besar is charged with an offence under any law in the Special Court established under Part 15 of the Federal Constitution, He shall cease to exercise the functions of a Ruler.

Under 10A(1), where the Yang di-Pertuan Besar is charged with an offence in the Special Court established under Part XV of the Federal Constitution, he ceases to exercise the functions of a Ruler. The office stays with him while the exercise of it stops. A Regent or Council of Regency is then appointed by the Undangs under Article 12(1)(e) and 12(6A), and that appointment ends when the circumstances producing it cease.

Article 10A(2): What a conviction does to the office itself, and the only exit from it

Where the Yang di-Pertuan Besar is convicted of an offence in the Special Court and sentenced to imprisonment for more than one day the Yang di-Pertuan Besar shall, whether or not He is called upon by the Undangs to withdraw from performing His duties or to abdicate and relinquish His prerogatives, rights, powers or privileges as Yang di-Pertuan Besar, cease to be the Yang di-Pertuan Besar unless He receives a free pardon; and a proclamation to that effect shall be issued under the hands of the Undangs and the Menteri Besar.

Under 10A(2), where he is convicted in the Special Court and sentenced to imprisonment for more than one day, he ceases to be Yang di-Pertuan Besar unless he receives a free pardon. The text says this follows “whether or not He is called upon by the Undangs” to withdraw or to abdicate, so the four chieftainships stand aside from it entirely. A proclamation signed by the Undangs and the Menteri Besar follows, and as under Article 10 it records a cessation that has already occurred.

Two routes therefore exist by which a reign may end against the wish of the holder. One runs through an enquiry conducted by four men. The other runs through a charge and a conviction in a court established under the Federal Constitution, with a pardon as the only exit.

What Article 10 does not say

It says nothing about the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU). The DKU is nowhere in Article 10. Its advisory function under Article 16 runs to questions of Malay custom, including the election, succession, removal and vacation of office of the Ruling Chiefs.

The Yang di-Pertuan Besar is a separate constitutional office and is not included within the Constitution's definition of "Ruling Chiefs". Article 34 defines “Ruling Chiefs” as the four Undangs together with the Tunku Besar Tampin. The DKU therefore has no stated role in the removal of a Ruler, and the Undangs have no stated role in the removal of one of their own.

It says nothing about the Tunku Besar Tampin. The power under Article 10 belongs to “the Undangs”, which Article 34 defines as the Ruling Chiefs excluding the Tunku Besar Tampin. Four men hold this power, and the fifth Ruling Chief does not.

It gives the Dato' Shahbandar of Sungai Ujong no role. The Dato' Shahbandar is a member of the DKU under Article 17 and, under Article 15, must be consulted by the Undang of Sungei Ujong on matters affecting the affairs of the Luak. Article 10 confers nothing on him.

It does not define “full and complete enquiry”. The Constitution prescribes no procedure, no form of notice, and no right of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar to be heard. The requirement has stood undefined since 1959, and events since April 2026 have raised the question of what it demands in practice for the first time.

It does not answer the prior question of who is an Undang. Article 10 assumes the answer and proceeds. Who lawfully holds each of the four chieftainships is settled elsewhere, under the custom of each Luak, with the DKU advising under Article 16. Article 10 cannot be reached until that question is closed.

It provides no power to install a successor. Article 10 ends the reign, in the circumstances it describes. The election of a new Yang di-Pertuan Besar is governed by Article 11, and the persons eligible are those set out in Article 7.

Footnote: The Constitution numbers its Articles in Roman numerals. This publication uses Arabic numerals for readability.

Our posts referencing Article 10:

Sources:

What is Article 7 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959?

Anak Nogori — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:16:55 GMT

What each clause means

Article 7(1): The Yang di-Pertuan Besar

There shall be a Yang di-Pertuan Besar of the State to exercise the functions and powers of a Ruler in accordance with this Constitution and who shall take precedence over all other persons in the State.

The office is the highest in Negeri Sembilan and outranks eveyrone. Its powers are those conferred by the Constitution.

Article 7(2): Election by the four Undangs, and how it departs from every other Malay state

The Yang di-Pertuan Besar shall be such person as shall be elected by the Undangs of the territories of Sungai Ujong, Jelebu, Johol and Rembau in the manner hereinafter provided and in accordance with the custom of the State.

This is the sentence that makes Negeri Sembilan different from every other Malay state. Elsewhere the throne passes down a family line. Here it is filled by an election, and the electors are the four chiefs of the Luak.

Each Undang reaches office through the customary process of his own Luak. That is why disputes over who is lawfully an Undang can ultimately affect who may participate in electing the Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

Article 7(3): Who is eligible

No person shall be elected as Yang di-Pertuan Besar of the State unless He shall be a male of the Malay race, of sound mind and professing the religion of the State, who is a lawfully-begotten descendant in the male line of Raja Radin ibni Raja Lenggang.

The last requirement is the tightest. The office is filled by election, but the pool of eligible candidates is fixed by descent. The Undangs choose, and they choose from within a defined family.

Article 7(4): What happens when a Yang di-Pertuan Besar dies

Upon the death of a Yang di-Pertuan Besar, leaving male issue him surviving, the Undangs of the territories of Sungai Ujong, Jelebu, Johol and Rembau shall forthwith choose a successor from among the said male issue:
Provided that if, in the opinion of the said Undangs, there is no suitable and competent person among the said male issue, then a person shall be chosen from the first of the following classes or failing, in their opinion, any suitable and competent person in that class, then from the second and subsequent classes in the order stated, that is to say —
Firstly, the brothers of the deceased Yang di-Pertuan Besar;
Secondly, the paternal uncles of the deceased Yang di-Pertuan Besar;
Thirdly, the grandsons of the deceased Yang di-Pertuan Besar;
Fourthly, the sons of the brothers of the deceased Yang di-Pertuan Besar;
Fifthly, the sons of the paternal uncles of the deceased Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

Upon the death of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, leaving male issue surviving him, the four Undangs must choose his successor from among that male issue, and must do so forthwith, that is, without unnecessary delay.

The Constitution says “male issue”, which here means his sons. Grandsons appear separately, as the third class in the list below.

Should the Undangs form the view that no suitable and competent person is to be found among the sons, they move to a list of five classes, taken strictly in order. They may only move down the list once they have formed the view that the class above holds nobody suitable and competent. The order is the Constitution’s.,

What Article 7 does not say

Article 7(4) provides for an election upon the death of a Yang di-Pertuan Besar. It provides for no other occasion. The circumstances in which the office may fall vacant during the lifetime of the incumbent are dealt with elsewhere in the Constitution, and they are narrow.

An election may also become necessary following a voluntary abdication under Article 9, an abdication called for by the Undangs after a full and complete enquiry under Article 10(1)(b), or a conviction and sentence in the Special Court under Article 10A(2).

Only in those three situations does Article 11 place a duty on the Undangs to choose and elect another Yang di-Pertuan Besar. Outside them, Article 7 provides no independent authority to elect another Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

Article 7(4) is also worth reading alongside Article 12(2), which provides that a Regent or Council of Regency shall be appointed from among the persons listed in Article 7(4). The succession classes therefore perform two constitutional functions. They identify the classes from which a Yang di-Pertuan Besar may be elected, and they identify the classes from which a Regent or Council of Regency may be appointed.

Footnote: The Constitution numbers its Articles in Roman numerals. This publication uses Arabic numerals for readability.

Our posts referencing Article 7:

Source:

Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959

Anak Nogori Weekly Round-Up (6-12 July, 2026)

Anak Nogori — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 02:00:34 GMT

What happened last week

8 July 2026, Wed: The Seremban High Court granted the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) and its Secretary, Raja Norazli Raja Nordin, leave to begin committal proceedings against six respondents accused of breaching the ad interim (temporary) injunction of 5 June, refused a stay, and fixed 28 July for the substantive hearing.

The judge, Roz Mawar Rozain, ruled that the DKU and its Secretary had established a prima facie case (enough evidence for the matter to go to a full hearing, with no finding of guilt at this stage), refused the plaintiffs' bid to postpone the committal proceedings, and fixed 28 July for the substantive hearing. The Edge reports that four committal applications were filed, two concerning acts before the 5 June injunction and two after, and that the judge allowed only the two that followed the injunction

The order restrains the six from convening or attending any DKU meeting, from suspending or obstructing the Secretary in the functions he holds under the Constitution of Negeri Sembilan 1959, from installing any committee or person to assume those functions, from holding themselves out as acting for the DKU, and from any step that disturbs the position as it stood before 21 May 2026.

The six named are Mubarak Dohak, the removed Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong, together with Maarof Mat Rashid (Jelebu), Muhammed Abdullah (Johol), Abdul Rahim Yasin (Rembau), Tunku Syed Razman Tunku Syed Idrus Al-Qadri, the Tunku Besar of Tampin, and Badarudin Abdul Khalid, the Dato’ Shahbandar of Sungei Ujong. Journalists who applied to follow the online hearing were refused access (Sinar Harian, 8 July 2026,The Edge Malaysia, 8 July 2026).

8 July 2026, Wed: The Rembau District and Land Office posted a red notice giving Abdul Rahim Yasin 24 hours to vacate the Balai Undang Luak Rembau (the official seat of the Undang of Rembau). The notice followed an order to vacate issued on 29 June, after Hassan Ab Hamid was proclaimed the 22nd Undang of Rembau, and after Abdul Rahim’s own 2024 appointment was found to have fallen short of the customary process his Luak requires (The Star, 8 July 2026).

A comparable order still stands unresolved in Sungei Ujong, where the state government directed Mubarak to leave the official residence and Balai Undang Luak Sungei Ujong with immediate effect on 30 April 2026, though he is understood to remain in the residence.

9 July 2026, Thu: Abdul Rahim’s lawyer, Emirul Sarifudin Nor Azmi, maintained that the eviction directive was invalid, that it ran against Adat and the state Constitution, and that it named no legal provision authorising the order, adding that any writ of possession should be sought through the court (Malaysiakini, 9 July 2026).

Commentary worth reading

29 June 2026, Mon: “One election, two crises, three coalitions: The Negeri Sembilan vote that could reshape Malaysian politics” by Soo Wern Jun in Malay Mail maps the 1 August state election through the coalitions contesting it and the constitutional dispute running alongside it (Malay Mail, 29 June 2026).

9 July 2026, Thu: Writing in Malaysiakini, Dr Ikmal Hisham Md Tah answers Faisal Tehrani’s argument that the Yang di-Pertuan Besar alone is Raja, contending instead that Negeri Sembilan rests on a shared sovereignty in which the Undangs hold Raja status within their own Luaks (Malaysiakini, 9 July 2026). The reading runs contrary to this publication’s own, which places the Yang di-Pertuan Besar above all others under Article 7(1), and it is set out here so readers can weigh both.

10 July 2026, Fri: Ikmal Hisham Md Tah and Mohd Khairil Hisham Mohd Ashaari argue that a caretaker state government is bound by convention to routine administration, and that the fresh Undang installations and the Rembau eviction, carried out after the Assembly was dissolved, may exceed those limits and invite an ultra vires (beyond lawful power) challenge (Malaysiakini, 10 July 2026).

11 July 2026, Sat: The Straits Times reports that Barisan Nasional won the Johor state election, taking 48 of the 56 seats, and looks ahead to Negeri Sembilan, where Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan meet again on 1 August. The paper argues that if Barisan Nasional takes Negeri Sembilan with some cooperation from PAS, as happened in Johor, it could point to a wider realignment of Malay-Muslim nationalist parties before the next general election (The Straits Times, 11 July 2026). Worth reading for what one state election suggests about the next.

What we are watching for

18 July 2026, Sat: Nomination day for the Negeri Sembilan state election.

28 July 2026, Tue: The substantive committal hearing, together with the question of the court’s jurisdiction over DKU matters. Both remain sub judice (under judgement) until heard.

1 August 2026, Sat: Polling day for the Negeri Sembilan state election, noted here as a date on the electoral calendar.

Beyond the fixed dates, the open threads are whether the six respondents appeal the leave granted on 8 July, after their counsel said he would take instructions, and how two unresolved eviction standoffs develop: the contested 24-hour notice at the Balai Undang Luak Rembau, where no writ of possession is yet before the court, and the April order against Mubarak in Sungei Ujong, where he is understood to remain in the official residence.

Summary

The week carried the crisis out of declarations and into the machinery of the court.

The court allowed the contempt case go ahead, but only for what the six are accused of doing after the 5 June injunction came into force;
the Rembau notice turned a contested installation into a contest over a building;
a pair of Malaysiakini essays reopened the older question of what an Undang actually is.

Posts Updated This Week

[UPDATED] Who is the Undang of Rembau and was his appointment legitimate? A profile of the Rembau seat, tracing the questions raised over the 2024 installation and the disputed 22nd Undang appointment. Now updated with the DKU letter of 7 July 2025, the Istiadat Mengadap (audience of installation) that never followed it, and the installation of Hassan Ab Hamid on 27 June 2026.

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Anak Nogori Weekly Round-Up (29 June - 5 July, 2026)

Anak Nogori — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 02:00:41 GMT

What happened last week

27 June 2026, Sat: A section of the Sungei Ujong waris moved to challenge the installation covered in this publication’s latest post, Who Are the New Undangs of Sungei Ujong and Rembau?

The waris of Klana Perut Hulu and Klana Perut Hilir, together with the Waris di Ayer and Waris di Darat, issued a media statement objecting to the installation of Muhammad Faris Johari as the 11th Undang Luak Sungei Ujong, arguing that it departed from the order set out in the Teromba and that it proceeded without the unanimous agreement of the Dato-Dato Lembaga Adat or the consent of the Ibu-Ibu Soko and the Klana waris that Adat requires.

They also questioned the standing of the officers who proclaimed the appointment, and asked for the installation to be reviewed (Sinar Harian, 27 June 2026).

The objection sits inside the Luak, where Adat locates the choice of an Undang. Competing claims within Sungei Ujong have run since May, when three names were advanced for the same seat, so the fresh challenge extends an argument the Luak has been having with itself for months.

28 June 2026, Sun: The Rembau district customary council has denied that its choice of a new Undang was influenced by the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir.

Speaking to KiniTV, the council said the appointment of Datuk Hassan Ab Hamid as Undang Luak Rembau, in place of Abdul Rahim Yasin, whose standing as chieftain had been in dispute for a lack of formalisation, was a decision of the Luak alone (KiniTV, 28 June 2026).

30 June 2026, Tue: In a notice dated 29 June, and following Hassan Ab Hamid’s proclamation as the 22nd Undang Luak Rembau on 27 June, the office ordered the immediate vacation of the official residence and Balai Undang Luak Rembau.

The seat had fallen vacant on the death of the previous Undang, Datuk Muhamad Sharip Othman, in May 2024, after which Abdul Rahim Yasin was reported in August 2024 to have been appointed the 22nd Undang, an appointment later reported as not complying with customary process (New Straits Times, 30 June 2026).

The step echoes the notice served on 30 April in Sungei Ujong to remove ex-Undang Mubarak Dohak from his official residence.

3 July 2026, Fri: A counter-challenge in Rembau came from a senior matriarch. At a media session on Adat and the rotation of the 22nd Undang Luak Rembau, the Ibu Soko Nan Tua of the Waris Perut Biduanda Sedia Raja Kampung Pulau, YM Rashimah Abu Bakar, petitioned Tuanku Muhriz to review the rotation and to set aside the installation of Hassan Ab Hamid, which she argued fell outside the customary order.

By her account, the Rembau title alternates between two carak, Lela Maharaja and Sedia Raja, and the 22nd turn belonged to Kampung Pulau and its candidate YM Hishamuddin Abu Hassan rather than to Kampung Tanjong.

She held that the choice of a candidate rests with the four Datuk Tiang Balai Baroh, and that several customary steps were left undone, which in her reading made the appointment defective under Adat (Negeri Kita, 3 July 2026).

As the Adat principle she cited has it, “yang dahulu didahulukan, yang kemudian dikemudiankan, yang berhak jangan diketepikan dan yang menunggu jangan dilangkahkan”, those with the earlier right should not be passed over and those still waiting should not be leapt.

Rashimah put her request in constitutional terms, accepting that the Yang di-Pertuan Besar consents to the Luak’s choice rather than making it, which raises the question of how a completed installation could be set aside without the Luak’s own bodies acting first.

Her claims about Kampung Pulau’s turn, and about the standing of the installation, are hers and await any answer from the Rembau Adat leaders who oversaw it.

Commentary worth reading

2 July 2026, Thu: Faisal Tehrani, writing in Free Malaysia Today under the title “Undang bukan raja, raja adalah raja”, (The Undang is not a king; the king is the king), argued that the Undang holds the standing of a keeper of Adat law rather than that of a raja, and that Article 7 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959 places the Yang di-Pertuan Besar above all others in the state.

He traced the title Undang to the 1898 confederation, drawing on A. Samad Idris’s “Payung Terkembang”, M. Rasjid Manggis’s 1970 study, and the historian Norhalim Ibrahim to argue that the agreement of that year lifted the Yang di-Pertuan Besar to the rank held by the other Malay Rulers while the Undang did not carry it.

On the co-ruler question he read the shared role as confined to the seven discretionary functions in Article 40(2), rather than a general co-rulership (Free Malaysia Today, 2 July 2026).

2 July 2026, Thu: The Star reported that a group describing itself as the Secretariat of Loyalty and Support for the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, chaired by Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharudin, lodged a complaint with the Negeri Sembilan Islamic Affairs Department on 1 July, asking it to act against any preacher who offers the Friday doa for a Ruler other than Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir.

Megat D. Shahriman said the practice, alongside certain road tours, could cause public confusion over the legitimate royal institution, and he characterised it as a challenge to Tuanku Muhriz’s sovereignty and a matter under the 3R framework of race, religion, and royalty (The Star, 2 July 2026).

The complaint answers an episode a fortnight earlier, when on 19 June a mosque in Jelebu read the Friday prayer for Tunku Nadzaruddin as “Yamtuan Besar”, following the chieftains’ directive to mosques in their Luak, a directive the Negeri Sembilan Mufti said fell outside his jurisdiction (Malaysiakini, 19 June 2026, Malaysiakini, 19 June 2026).

The department has yet to say whether it will act. Asking the authorities to police the content of the Friday doa raises separate questions about religious authority and freedom of religious expression, alongside the loyalty argument advanced by the secretariat.

What we are watching for next week

7 July 2026, Tue: A contempt application within the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) proceedings is listed for hearing at the Seremban High Court, with the substantive hearing on jurisdiction and justiciability separately fixed for 28 July (Free Malaysia Today, 5 June 2026).

Summary

Both installations of 27 June drew challenges from inside their own Luak, Sungei Ujong on the reading of the Teromba and Rembau on the order of the rotation, and in Rembau the customary council has already defended its choice as an act of the Luak, free of palace influence, even as a senior Ibu Soko disputes it.

Each argument is pressed in the language of Adat rather than against the throne. The Free Malaysia Today column questioning the standing of the Undang reaches a similar conclusion on one point: authority in Negeri Sembilan begins within the Luak, while the Yang di-Pertuan Besar gives consent to what the Luak has decided.

For all the petitions addressed to Seri Menanti, the argument that now matters sits below the throne rather than above it, in the question of which kerapatan truly speaks for the Luak, and that is something the Yang di-Pertuan Besar can consent to yet cannot decide on the Luak’s behalf.

New posts written by this publication last week

Who Are the New Undangs of Sungei Ujong and Rembau? (29 June 2026): Faris Johari and Hassan Ab Hamid were formally installed at Istana Besar Seri Menanti on 27 June 2026.
Bagaimana seorang Undang Negeri Sembilan dilantik dan dilucutkan? (1 July 2026): this publication’s explainer on how an Undang is appointed and removed under the custom of the Luak was carried in Bahasa Melayu by Free Malaysia Today.
What Happens When a Luak Cannot Agree on Its Undang? (5 July 2026): When two lineages inside a Luak each claim the rightful Undang, does the Yang di-Pertuan Besar decide between them, or does custom answer first?

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What Happens When a Luak Cannot Agree on Its Undang?

Anak Nogori — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 13:20:27 GMT

Two new Undangs were installed at Istana Besar Seri Menanti on 27 June 2026, one for Luak Sungei Ujong and one for Luak Rembau, and within a week each installation had drawn an objection from inside its own Luak.

That has revived an old question in a new form: when the lineages of a single Luak cannot agree on who should hold the title, who actually decides?

The answer turns on separating two acts that are often confused, the selection of an Undang, which belongs to the Luak, and the installation, which belongs to the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, both acts of Adat Perpatih.

What are the Sungei Ujong and Rembau objections about?

Both quarrels sit inside a single Luak rather than between Luaks, and both turn on process.

In Sungei Ujong, the waris of Klana Perut Hulu and Klana Perut Hilir objected that the installation of Muhammad Faris Johari as the 11th Undang departed from the order set in the Teromba and proceeded without the unanimous agreement of the Dato-Dato Lembaga Adat and the consent of the Ibu-Ibu Soko that custom requires (Sinar Harian, 27 June 2026).

In Rembau, the Ibu Soko Nan Tua of the Waris Perut Biduanda Sedia Raja Kampung Pulau, YM Rashimah Abu Bakar, argued that the 22nd turn belonged to Kampung Pulau rather than Kampung Tanjong and petitioned the Yang di-Pertuan Besar to set the installation of Hassan Ab Hamid aside.

However, the Rembau customary council held that its choice had been a proper act of the Luak taken free of palace influence (KiniTV Youtube video, 28 June 2026, Negeri Kita, 3 July 2026).

The Rembau quarrel reaches back to 2024. The title rotates between the two Biduanda lineages, the Waris Lela Maharaja and the Waris Sedia Raja, and the source kampung within the lineage on turn, the Lubuk Benih, is chosen through a Kerapatan of the Buapak Delapan.

In two kerapatan in June 2024, the Buapak favoured Kampung Tanjong, the kampung of Hassan Ab Hamid, while the Lembaga, Datuk Perba Abdul Razak Mohd Yassin, set those outcomes aside and proclaimed Kampung Pulau in their place (Malaysiakini, 30 July 2024,Sinar Harian, 30 July 2024). The two sides disagree over whether the Buapak’s vote governs or Kampung Pulau was owed a turn.

Where does Adat locate the choice of an Undang?

Article 14 of the Constitution provides that an Undang is a person lawfully elected according to the custom of his Luak.

That election belongs to the Luak's own customary institutions. The precise process differs from one Luak to another, reflecting each Luak's own Adat, but authority rises through its recognised customary bodies, including the Buapak, the Lembaga, the waris houses, and the Ibu Soko whose sanction the custom requires. Each Luak also follows its own established rotation between eligible waris branches.

The shape of that process is the point. The Adat saying goes, “Berjenjang naik, bertangga turun”, one climbs the steps to go up and takes the same rungs to come down, so authority moves through the structure by degrees rather than by leap.

What does the Yang di-Pertuan Besar actually do at the ceremony?

The throne only enters once the Luak presents what it regards as its settled choice, and the approach to it runs through two audiences at Seri Menanti.

Both Luak first present themselves before the Tunku Besar Seri Menanti, Tunku Ali Redhauddin, in the audience known as the mengadap, the formal act of appearing before royalty, to seek consent for the date of the ceremony (Malaysiakini, 25 June 2026).

They then go before the Yang di-Pertuan Besar himself, who receives the delegation, grants his perkenan, and by his titah recognises the completed customary act at the Istiadat Menzahirkan Kejadian Undang, as both Luak marked on 27 June 2026 (Free Malaysia Today, 1 July 2026).

How does the palace decide which selection to confirm?

Because the throne confirms rather than chooses, its practical check is narrow. It receives one selection from the Luak’s recognised bodies, and what it can reasonably weigh runs along a few lines:

Provenance: which body presents the name, and whether Adat recognises that body as competent to present in the Luak.
Form: whether the customary steps that precede presentation appear to have been observed.
Standing: whether the office-holders vouching for the selection hold the positions they claim.

Reconstructing disputed genealogies, weighing rival family claims, and settling which reading of a Teromba is correct, all belong within the Luak’s own customary institutions, which are the machinery built to resolve them. A losing branch that insists the turn was its own is raising a customary question for those bodies to answer, not for the palace.

Can a completed installation be set aside, and by whom?

Article 14 keeps both the making and the unmaking of an Undang within Luak custom, so a selection that is questioned returns to the same Lembaga, waris, and Ibu Soko that constituted it.

Where such a customary outcome reaches the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU), the DKU’s role under Article 16 is to advise and to acknowledge, and under Article 16(3) that advice is final and cannot be called into question in any court.

The crisis has already produced one completed instance of that sequence, since Mubarak Dohak, the removed Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong, lost office under the custom of the Luak through the Telaga Undang and the Waris Klana Hulu with effect from 13 May 2025, and the DKU acknowledged that customary removal at its special sitting on 17 April 2026 (Free Malaysia Today, 5 May 2026).

Where does responsibility for a contested selection sit?

The work of resolving who rightfully holds the turn sits with the Luak’s own bodies, the Lembaga, the waris, and the Ibu Soko, which are the machinery Adat builds for exactly this.

The throne, by comparison, is involved only in the timing of the ceremony, since the Luak delegation attends on a date the Yang di-Pertuan Besar has consented to at the Luak's own request, and the act at Seri Menanti is recognition of a choice already made.

The objectors' claims represent one reading of the customary process, while the Rembau customary council has advanced another. Those competing accounts leave the dispute where Adat places it, inside the Luak.

A ceremony at Seri Menanti can install a choice, though it was never built to referee one, and a Luak that cannot yet agree on its Undang will find the answer in the balai that makes him rather than the palace that receives him.

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Who Are the New Undangs of Sungei Ujong and Rembau?

Anak Nogori — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 02:01:33 GMT

On Saturday, 27 June 2026, two of Negeri Sembilan's four Luak completed the customary installation of new chiefs. In the morning at Istana Besar Seri Menanti, Muhammad Faris Johari, 28, was installed as the 11th Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong and conferred the title Datuk Klana Petra.

In the afternoon, Hassan Ab Hamid, 67, a retired teacher from the Biduanda Sedia Raja clan of Kampung Tanjong, was installed as the 22nd Undang of Luak Rembau with the title Datuk Sedia Raja (Free Malaysia Today, 27 June 2026).

The selections themselves are acts of the Luak, settled through the kerapatan and muafakat of the relevant adat houses and marked at the Luak level, by the proclamation of the chosen candidate.

The role performed at Seri Menanti is to give those selections their formal ceremonial eexpression, the point at which a candidate chosen by his Luak is openly recognised before the state.

What happened at Seri Menanti on 27 June?

Each ceremony took the form of an Istiadat Mengadap, the audience at which a chief chosen by his Luak presents himself before the Yang di-Pertuan Besar and is then installed as Undang (Sinar Harian, 27 June 2026).

The Sungei Ujong ceremony opened with the Orang Empat Istana seeking the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir to begin, after which Faris Johari paid homage and pledged his allegiance before being proclaimed the 11th Undang (Free Malaysia Today, 27 June 2026).

The Rembau ceremony followed the same afternoon, with Hassan Ab Hamid received in audience by Tuanku Muhriz and installed as Undang Luak Rembau. The ceremony was witnessed by the Tunku Ampuan Besar Tuanku Aishah Rohani, the Tunku Besar Seri Menanti Tunku Ali Redhauddin, the Tunku Panglima Besar Tunku Zain Al-’Abidin, and Menteri Besar Aminuddin Harun (Sinar Harian, 27 June 2026; Scoop, 27 June 2026).

In his address, Tuanku Muhriz described the office as a trust arising from adat consensus, to be carried with responsibility and sincerity, and said any disputes should be managed through diplomacy and a spirit of muafakat (concensus). (Free Malaysia Today, 27 June 2026).

What did the royal audience on 25 June settle?

The path to Saturday ran through an audience two days earlier. On Thursday 25 June, delegations of Adat leaders from both Luak were received at Istana Besar Seri Menanti by Tunku Besar Seri Menanti Tunku Ali Redhauddin, who conveyed the consent of his father, the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, for the installation ceremonies to proceed on 27 June.

For Sungei Ujong, the Luak was represented by Waris Negeri Datuk Sinda Maharaja Razlan Hamid (Malaysiakini, 25 June 2026).

For Rembau, the chairman of the Kerapatan Buapak Delapan Kampung, Datuk Juan Datuk Zulkipli Shamsudin, stated that Hassan Ab Hamid had been selected through two rounds of kerapatan that settled on Kampung Tanjong as the kampung benih, the lineage from which the candidate is drawn (Malay Mail, 25 June 2026).

The order of that process is worth stating precisely.

The Luak chooses its candidate, obtains consent to hold the istiadat, and then brings him before the throne to be installed.

As the Adat saying has it:

“Adat diisi, janji dilabuh”, every requirement of Adat must be filled in turn and the promise properly anchored

What has followed at the two Luak?

Both installations have been followed by orders to give up the official premises of the Luak.

On 29 April, the State Secretary’s Office directed the removed Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong Mubarak Dohak to vacate the official residence and the Balai Undang Luak Sungei Ujong.

On 29 June, two days after the Rembau ceremony, the Rembau District and Land Office issued a similar order for the official residence and Balai Undang Luak Rembau, directed at Abdul Rahim Yasin, whose 2024 proclamation as 22nd Undang was reported not to have met the customary requirements (The Star, 30 June 2026,New Straits Times, 30 June 2026).

What comes next?

A kerjan, the customary celebration held at the new Undang’s residence to mark the appointment, is still to follow, and a date for it has yet to be confirmed in either Luak.

An Undang of Negeri Sembilan is made one rung at a time, from the kerapatan of the Luak to the istiadat at Seri Menanti.

On 19 April, the “Undang Yang Empat”¹ tried to depose the Yang di-Pertuan Besar. By 27 June, two of their seats had passed to other men.

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Anak Nogori Weekly Round-Up (22 to 28 June, 2026)

Anak Nogori — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 02:01:10 GMT

What happened last week

This was a significant week, carrying some of the most consequential developments since the crisis began. The dispute moved from words to ceremony. Two of the four Undang seats were settled through the Luak's own process and marked by royal assent at Istana Besar Seri Menanti.

What had been a contest of declarations began to take institutional shape.

23 to 25 June 2026, Tues to Thurs: The Conference of Rulers meeting scheduled for these dates was postponed (Malaysiakini, 23 June 2026,The Star, 23 June 2026,Straits Times, 23 June 2026). The two camps read the deferral differently. Supporters of Tuanku Muhriz treated it as changing nothing in constitutional terms, while supporters of Tunku Nadzaruddin presented it as a sign that questions remained open. The federal government’s recognition of Tuanku Muhriz as Yang di-Pertuan Besar stayed in place through the week.

25 June 2026, Thurs: At Istana Besar Seri Menanti, Tunku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tuanku Muhriz received the Dato’-Dato’ Adat of Luak Rembau, who presented Hassan Ab Hamid and sought consent for the date of the istiadat installing the 22nd Undang of Luak Rembau (Sinar Harian, 25 June 2026).

25 June 2026, Thurs: The selection drew public objection the same day. Adat leaders associated with the rival camp of Rembau said they had no knowledge of the ceremony, and reports described members of the Lembaga maintaining that the 2024 proclamation stands (Malaysiakini, 25 June 2026,Harian Metro, 25 June 2026).

26 June 2026, Fri: At Istana Besar Seri Menanti, Tunku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tuanku Muhriz received the Dato'-Dato' Adat of Luak Sungei Ujong, the waris soko, and their delegation, led by the Waris Negeri of Sungei Ujong, Datuk Sinda Maharaja Razlan Hamid. The Luak conveyed that the selection of the Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong had been carried out according to its adat, and sought a date for the ceremony. Tunku Ali conveyed the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar for the Istiadat Menghadap Menjunjung Duli to be held on the morning of Saturday, 27 June (Malaysiakini, 26 June 2026).

27 June 2026, Sat: Tuanku Muhriz conducted the istiadat installing Muhammad Faris Johari as the 11th Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong and formalising the appointment of Hassan Ab Hamid as the 22nd Undang of Luak Rembau, and used the occasion to call for loyalty (Malay Mail, 27 June 2026,The Star, 27 June 2026).

The Sungei Ujong seat drew its own objection, with heirs of the Klana line disputing Muhammad Faris’s appointment (Sinar Harian, 27 June 2026).

Commentary worth reading

25 June 2026, Thurs: Sinar Harian quoted Dato' Juan Datuk Zulkipli Shamsudin, chairman of the Kerapatan Buapak Lapan Kampung of Waris Biduanda Nan Dua Carak in Luak Rembau, who set out the customary principle directly: under Adat Perpatih an Undang is chosen within his own Luak, and the Yang di-Pertuan Besar receives the Luak's representatives and grants assent rather than initiating, choosing, or appointing. He noted that recent reports portraying Tuanku Muhriz as having started or made the appointment misread both the Adat and the Constitution (Sinar Harian, 25 June 2026).

25 June 2026, Thurs: The Straits Times set out the reporting behind its scoop, “Royal conclave cancelled: the story behind the ST scoop,” tracing how the cancellation came to light and what it signals while the Negeri Sembilan dispute remains in litigation. The Straits Times broke the story. According to its reporting, colleagues in the Malaysian press described authorities working to contain the fallout from the cancellation, itself a rare enough turn to be worth recording, and the paper cited experts and palace observers who regarded calling off the Conference at the last minute as without precedent, noting that even pandemic-era postponements came with notice rather than at the eleventh hour (The Straits Times, 25 June 2026).

Adatperpatih.my: For readers who want to follow the custom in Bahasa Melayu, adatperpatih.my is a clear and well-sourced reference on Adat Perpatih. It sets out the Luak structure and the mechanics of how an Undang is chosen and removed, and it frames the removal of an Undang as a customary act of the Luak that the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) acknowledges, the same reading this publication works from. Like our publication, its stated approach echoes the principles on our own: neutral and sourced, with permanent customary content kept apart from the current-affairs case study, and a standing invitation to readers to flag corrections. We recommend it as a strong Malay-language companion to the explainers here (adatperpatih.my)

What we are watching for next week

7 July 2026, Tues: The Seremban High Court is fixed to hear the application by Mubarak, the removed Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong, and three Undangs, with two others, to set aside the ad interim injunction restraining the DKU from convening. Case management was held before Justice Roz Mawar Rozain on 18 June (Negeri Sembilan royal feud: Undangs apply to set aside DKU injunction (The Edge), 15 June 2026). The matter is before the court, so this publication states the listing as fact and reserves any reading of the merits while proceedings are live.

We are also watching how the two installed Undangs settle against the rival claims now that the istiadat have taken place, and whether any reading attaches to the Conference of Rulers once a fuller account of last week’s postponement emerges.

A bare civic marker, kept apart from the succession question: the Election Commission calendar for the state poll sets nomination day on 18 July, early voting on 28 July, and polling on 1 August. We carry these dates as scheduling facts only and draw no line between the election and the succession dispute.

As the Adat saying has it, berjenjang naik, bertangga turun, one climbs step by step and descends rung by rung. Authority moves through the structure in sequence, and the week’s two ceremonies will be read against whether each step was filled.

Summary

The installations are worth reading carefully, because the line of authority runs the opposite way to how the ceremony can appear. The choice of an Undang belongs to the Luak, which moves through its own customary structure of Buapak, Ibu Soko, and Lembaga to settle on a name. (Read our post on this).

The Yang di-Pertuan Besar receives that choice and grants assent, and the istiadat is the moment that assent is marked. What gives the week its weight is the consequence rather than the source: with two of the four seats now formalised at the Luak level and assented to, the makeup of the body that elects a Yang di-Pertuan Besar shifts, should those appointments be upheld against the rival claims still before the Seremban High Court.

New posts written by this publication last week

How is an Undang of Negeri Sembilan appointed and removed? An evergreen reference explainer on the nine-step process, anchored in the principle that the Yang di-Pertuan Besar receives the Luak’s choice and grants assent.
Why do several Wikipedia pages call the Undangs “Raja”? A look at the framing across four Malay Wikipedia pages and why the “Raja under Article 160(2)” reading misstates the office.
[UPDATED] Who is the Undang of Rembau and was his appointment legitimate? A profile of the Rembau seat, tracing the questions raised over the 2024 installation and the disputed 22nd Undang appointment.

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How Is an Undang of Negeri Sembilan Appointed and Removed?

Anak Nogori — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:48:35 GMT

A Malay-language translation of this article was republished in Free Malaysia Today.

The Undangs are all over the news. Far fewer people know one is actually appointed, or how one is removed. The answer may surprise some readers, because the authority does not begin at the palace.

It rises from the Luak. Only after the Luak has reached its decision does the Yang di-Pertuan Besar receive it and grant his assent at the proper time.

Here is the process, step by step. The broad process is common to all four Luaks, though each, Sungei Ujong, Jelebu, Johol, and Rembau, carries its own variations in the detail.

Step 1: It begins with the mother

Negeri Sembilan runs on a centuries-old matrilineal order called Adat Perpatih, carried from the Minangkabau highlands of West Sumatra.

Lineage, land, and identity trace through the mother, and every person is born into the suku, or clan, of their mother rather than their father.

The twelve suku are the social bedrock on which every office rests. The land and home belong to the women's line, and at its centre stands the Ibu Soko, the senior matriarch whose authority anchors the customary order.

Step 2: The family chooses its Buapak

Each perut, or family branch, chooses a Buapak (sub clan head), an elder and spokesman. He is chosen from below by members of the family group, and he is tested by his own anak buah (clan members) before he is installed.

Step 3: The Buapak choose the Lembaga

Once each family branch has its Buapak, the Buapak together choose a Lembaga (clan leader), the chief of the whole suku. In many customary settings, offices are tied to recognised branches within the suku, so the choice is not an open public appointment.

When a Luak installs a Lembaga or Buapak, the rite is the Istiadat Menyalang, at which the new holder pays homage, or merafak sembah, and the Undang hands him the customary tokens of office, a keris, ceremonial attire, and the Watikah of his appointment (malaysiaaktif.my, 26 July 2018).

So a Lembaga is recognised by his Undang, and an Undang by the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, each chief taking office through the authority that sits one rung above him.

Step 4: Only one clan can produce an Undang

The office of Undang is not open to every suku. It is confined to recognised Biduanda waris lines within each Luak. Eligibility is fixed by birth and only a man born to the right line can be considered.

Step 5: The Lembaga choose the Undang by consensus

Article 14(1) of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959 provides that the Undangs of Sungai Ujong, Jelebu, Johol, and Rembau shall be persons lawfully elected in accordance with the custom of their respective Luaks.

This means that the recognised Adat bodies of the Luak, including the relevant Buapak, Ibu Soko, waris, and Lembaga, reach a decision according to the custom of that Luak.

The choice is made by consensus, or muafakat, and deliberation continues until agreement is reached. The defining feature is that the decision is made within the Luak, by the Luak’s own bodies.

The precise mechanics vary from Luak to Luak, though the principle of a choice made within the Luak by consensus holds across all four.

Step 6: The title passes through the female line

When an Undang dies or steps down, his own children usually do not inherit, because they belong to their mother’s suku rather than his. The heir is often found among his sister’s sons or other eligible male relatives in the same maternal line.

Each Luak draws its Undang from a defined set of noble houses, so that Sungai Ujong alternates between the Waris Klana di-Hulu and the Waris Klana di-Hilir, whose holder carries the title Dato’ Klana Petra, while Rembau alternates between the Waris Jakun and the Waris Jawa, whose holders carry the titles Dato’ Lela Maharaja and Dato’ Sedia Raja.

Step 7: The Luak brings its chief before the Tuanku

Only at this point does the palace enter the process, at the close of the process and not the start of it.

Once a Luak has settled on its chief, its representatives carry that choice to Seri Menanti and come in audience, or mengadap, to pay homage and to seek royal assent.

The ceremony that completes the making of an Undang is the Istiadat Menzahirkan Kejadian Undang, held at Seri Menanti, at which the new holder is recognised in office and the assent and the Watikah, the written instrument of appointment, issue from the throne.

The order of that process is an important point that many get wrong, the press included.

A mengadap is the Luak approaching the palace, and the Tuanku’s part in it is to receive, to consent at the proper time, and to confirm. He is the custodian of the custom and the giver of royal assent, holding the seal on a decision the Luak itself has made, rather than a decision maker who selects or installs a chief of his own choosing.

Step 8: The same Lembaga can remove the Undang

Removal travels the same path as appointment, in reverse. The body that raises an Undang is the body that can bring him down, and Article 14(3) recognises that an Undang may vacate or be removed in accordance with the custom of his Luak.

The mechanism sits with the Lembaga and the Adat leadership of the Luak, acting through their own customary process, which keeps both the making and the unmaking of a chief inside the Luak that he serves.

Step 9: The Dewan Keadilan dan Undang acknowledges, and its advice is final

The Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) sits above this process to advise and to acknowledge.

Article 16(1) establishes it to advise on questions of Malay custom in any part of the State, including the election, succession, removal, or vacation of office of a ruling chief, and Article 16(3) provides that its advice on such questions shall be final and shall not be challenged or called in question in any court on any ground.

The DKU acknowledges what a Luak has decided, and the act of choosing or removing the chief remains the Luak’s own.

Does the Yang di-Pertuan Besar appoint or remove an Undang?

He does neither, and that distinction is the heart of the whole custom. Appointment and removal of an Undang both belong to the Luak, acting through its own bodies, which are its Lembaga, its waris, and at the root the Ibu Soko, all working through the established customary process.

A chief is made within his own Luak, by the Luak’s own authorities, and the same authorities are the ones who can unmake him. Legitimacy here is something the roots of the community give upward.

The role of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar sits at the point of consent. When a Luak has reached its decision, its representatives come before him to seek royal assent, and his part is to receive them, to consent at the proper time, and to recognise the choice the Luak has placed before him.

He is the custodian of the custom and the giver of that assent rather than its author, and the initiative stays with the Luak from first to last. The direction runs from the Luak up to the palace, not the other way around.

The same custom that gives the throne its role of consent also fixes the limit of that role, because the power to consent is not a power to choose. The Tuanku’s assent recognises what a Luak has genuinely decided, and it carries no power to override a Luak that is functioning or to settle an outcome the Luak’s own bodies did not reach. That limit is the safeguard, and it is the reason the Yang di-Pertuan Besar receives and recognises rather than selects and installs.

A Luak decides first. The palace recognises that decision afterwards.

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Why Do Several Wikipedia Pages Now Call the Undangs ‘Rajas’ of Negeri Sembilan?

Anak Nogori — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:12:52 GMT

A line has settled across the Malay Wikipedia entries for the four Luak chieftainships.

Each one now opens by describing its Undang as the “pemerintah atau Raja”, the ruler or Raja, of Negeri Sembilan, and each anchors that description to Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution. The wording recurs, almost word for word, on the pages for Sungei Ujong, Jelebu, Johol, and Rembau.

Undang Luak Sungei Ujong

Undang Luak Sungei Ujong, Negeri Sembilan adalah Pemerintah atau Raja bagi Luak Sungei Ujong, Negeri Sembilan. Perkara ini termaktub sebagaimana di dalam perkara 160 (2). Gelaran bagi jawatan ini ialah Ke Bawah Kaus Yang Teramat Mulia Dato’ Klana Petra, Undang Luak Sungei Ujong. Dato’ Undang Luak Sungei Ujong adalah Dato’ Undang yang paling kanan diantara Undang yang Empat. Perlembagaan Persekutuan berkenaan takrif “Raja” bagi Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus dan Luak (Negeri) Sungei Ujong, Luak Sungei Ujong merupakan salah satu daripada luak yang membentuk Negeri Sembilan.

Translation: The Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong, Negeri Sembilan, is the Ruler or Raja of Luak Sungei Ujong, Negeri Sembilan. This is enshrined as set out in Article 160(2). The title of the office is Ke Bawah Kaus Yang Teramat Mulia Dato’ Klana Petra, Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong. The Dato’ Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong is the most senior among the four Undangs (paling kanan, literally the rightmost). The reference is to the Federal Constitution and the definition of “Raja” for Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus and the territory of Sungei Ujong. Luak Sungei Ujong is one of the Luak that form Negeri Sembilan.

Undang Luak Jelebu

Undang Luak Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan adalah Pemerintah atau Raja sebagaimana perkara 160(2) Perlembagaan Persekutuan berkenaan takrif “Raja” bagi Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus dan Luak Jelebu. Luak (Negeri) Jelebu merupakan salah satu daripada luak yang membentuk Negeri Sembilan. Dato’ Undang Luak Jelebu bergelar Yang Teramat Mulia Dato’ Mendika Menteri Akhirulzaman Sultan Jelebu.

Translation: The Undang of Luak Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan, is the Ruler or Raja under Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution, concerning the definition of “Raja” for Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus and Luak Jelebu. The territory of Jelebu is one of the Luak that form Negeri Sembilan. The Dato’ Undang of Luak Jelebu holds the title Yang Teramat Mulia Dato’ Mendika Menteri Akhirulzaman Sultan Jelebu.

Undang Luak Johol

Undang Luak Johol, Negeri Sembilan merupakan Pembesar Memerintah dan Raja bersama bagi Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus sebagaimana diperuntukkan di bawah Fasal 2 Perkara 160 Perlembagaan Persekutuan serta Perkara 28 Undang-Undang Tubuh Kerajaan Negeri Sembilan berhubung takrif “Raja” atau Pemerintah (Ruler) bagi Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus dan Luak Johol.

Translation: The Undang of Luak Johol, Negeri Sembilan, is a Ruling Magnate (Pembesar Memerintah) and joint Raja (Raja bersama) for Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus, as provided under Clause 2 of Article 160 of the Federal Constitution and Article 28 of the Constitution of the State of Negeri Sembilan, concerning the definition of “Raja” or Ruler for Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus and Luak Johol.

Undang Luak Rembau

Undang Luak Rembau Negeri Sembilan ialah pemerintah atau Raja di Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Jawatan ini termaktub dalam perkara 160(2) Perlembagaan Persekutuan berkenaan takrif “Raja” bagi Negeri Sembilan dan Luak Rembau. Luak Rembau merupakan salah satu daripada luak yang membentuk Negeri Sembilan.

Translation: The Undang of Luak Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, is the ruler or Raja in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. This office is enshrined in Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution, concerning the definition of “Raja” for Negeri Sembilan and Luak Rembau. Luak Rembau is one of the Luak that form Negeri Sembilan.

These Wikipedia pages are protected and cannot be edited

The four Undang pages are currently protected, which means that they are closed to editing by ordinary users. For example, the Undang of Sungei Ujong page cites “perang sunting” (edit war), or protection against vandalism, and the page is protected from editing until 14 August 2026.

The question to ask is who wants it protected from editing and why?

A protected page is not a sealed one. The talk page attached to each article remains open, and a reader can post a sourced correction there for an editor to action. The proper route for the “Raja” wording would be an edit request on the talk page citing Article 7(1) of the state Constitution, rather than an edit to the article itself.

There is a wider lesson in all of this for anyone following the dispute. An open-edit encyclopaedia is a convenient summary but a poor authority, particularly on a contested question of constitutional rank during a live dispute, where a single sentence can harden into a citation faster than it can be checked.

Where is rank actually set?

Rank sits in the state instrument, the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959.

Article 7(1) provides for a Yang di-Pertuan Besar to exercise the functions and powers of a Ruler and to “take precedence over all other persons in the State”.

That text seats the office above every other in Negeri Sembilan, the Undangs among them. Articles 28 and 40(2) then identify seven specific matters in which the concurrence of the Undangs is required. The Constitution assigns them defined constitutional prerogatives in that way, by express exception, rather than by recognising them as co-equal sovereign rulers.

Read together, the texts describe a hierarchy with the Yang di-Pertuan Besar at its head and the Undangs as Ruling Chiefs holding defined prerogatives within their Luak.

Why do the Undangs keep quoting Article 160(2)?

The Undangs’ claim rests on a single clause, Article 160(2) in the Federal Constitution.

This issue has been covered in two earlier pieces written by this publication, Undangs Are Not Co-Rulers With Equal Status and Power, and The Co-Ruler Debate, Reignited.

But, let’s go through it again.

Article 160(2) defines “Ruler” for Negeri Sembilan as “the Yang di-Pertuan Besar acting on behalf of himself and the Ruling Chiefs in accordance with the Constitution of that State”.

The provision identifies the Yang di-Pertuan Besar as the constitutional “Ruler” for federal purposes, and specifies that he acts on behalf of himself and the Ruling Chiefs in accordance with the Negeri Sembilan State Constitution.

It defines how the term “Ruler” is to operate within the Federal Constitution rather than conferring an independent royal title on each Undang.

Had the drafters of the Federal Constitution meant to make each Undang a Raja in his own right, they would have used the language to say so.

Instead, they identified a single constitutional Ruler for federal purposes, the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, acting on behalf of himself and the Ruling Chiefs.

Does an interpretation clause confer a title?

Article 160 carries the heading “Interpretation”, and its operative language assigns the meanings “hereby respectively assigned to them” to words used elsewhere in the document.

Its function is to define terms so that the rest of the Constitution can be read consistently. A definitional clause of that kind determines the meaning of a term wherever it appears in the Constitution, and it leaves the creation of offices, the conferral of titles, and the setting of rank to whichever provisions establish them expressly.

The titles themselves point the same way. The Undang of Sungei Ujong holds the style Dato’ Klana Petra, and his counterparts in Jelebu, Johol, and Rembau carry the titles of pembesar, of territorial chiefs.

The style reserved to the head of the State is Duli Yang Maha Mulia Yang di-Pertuan Besar. The same distinction also appears in traditional usage, rather than arising from any statute.

The Adat draws the same line in its perbilangan (customary maxims), a point the historian Mohd Arof Ishak set out and Faisal Tehrani quoted in his FMT column (Free Malaysia Today, 14 May 2026).

“Sultan juga membawa maksud yang serupa. Perbilangan adatnya nyata melahirkan kefahaman dan perbezaan ini: raja bertitah (yakni, dengan dekri/perintah), manakala Undang bersabda (memberikan nasihat dan persetujuan, hanya dengan apa-apa yang disepakati bersama-sama Balai Nan Panjang/Lembaga Nan Lapan). Di Luak Jelebu, Undang tidak berkuasa atau berkedudukan seperti raja atau sultan.”

Translation: “The word Sultan carries a similar meaning. Its Adat perbilangan (customary maxim) plainly gives rise to this understanding and distinction: the raja issues titah (that is, by decree or command), whereas the Undang gives sabda (offering advice and consent, only on whatever is agreed together with the Balai Nan Panjang / Lembaga Nan Lapan). In Luak Jelebu, the Undang holds no power or standing like a raja or a sultan.”

The verbs differ because the offices differ.

How to look at the Wikipedia edits

The record behind these Wiki pages stays open even where the editing does not, since every change and every protection action is logged publicly, which lets any reader open a page's history (lihat sejarah) and protection log and see for themselves who changed the text, and which administrator applied the lock.

The answer to who is Raja in Negeri Sembilan is not found in a Wikipedia article.

It is found in the Negeri Sembilan Constitution.

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Anak Nogori Weekly Round-Up (15-21 June, 2026)

Anak Nogori — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 02:00:27 GMT

What happened last week

15 June 2026, Mon: Mubarak¹, the removed Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong, and the three Undangs, with two others, were reported to have filed an application at the Seremban High Court to set aside the ad interim injunction that restrains the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) from convening, deciding, or taking any measure pending the substantive proceedings. The application was lodged on 12 June, listed for case management before Justice Roz Mawar Rozain on 18 June, and fixed for hearing on 7 July, with the DKU and its secretary Raja Norazli Raja Nordin represented by the firm of Steven Thiru (The Edge, 15 June).

15 June 2026, Mon: The Election Commission’s calendar for the Negeri Sembilan state election sets nomination day on 18 July, early voting on 28 July, and polling on 1 August (Scoop, 15 June).

16 June 2026, Tue: Coverage turned to the Conference of Rulers, set for 23 to 25 June, with the question of who occupies the Negeri Sembilan seat read as a marker of which claimant the rulers’ institution recognises (The Vibes, 16 June).

19 June 2026, Fri: A mosque in Jelebu read prayers for Tunku Nadzaruddin as “Yamtuan Besar” in the Friday sermon, following the chieftains' directive to mosques in their Luak, which the Negeri Sembilan Mufti said fell outside his jurisdiction (Malaysiakini in Malay, 19 June, Malaysiakini in English, 19 June).

19 June 2026, Fri: The Tunku Ampuan Besar, Tuanku Aishah Rohani binti Almarhum Tengku Besar Mahmud, marked her 74th birthday.

Commentary worth reading

16 June 2026, Tue: All eyes on Conference of Rulers and Negeri Sembilan (The Vibes) sets out why the seating at this month’s Conference has become a focal point for the recognition question.

19 June 2026, Fri: N Sembilan chieftains order Friday sermons to pray for Tunku Nadzaruddin. Malaysiakini reported that mosques across the Luak of Sungai Ujong, Jelebu, Johol, and Rembau, and the Tampin territory, had been directed to pray for Tunku Nadzaruddin in the Friday sermon, following a letter dated 9 June from the chieftains and the Tunku Besar of Tampin to the Negeri Sembilan Mufti, Faudzinaim Badaruddin.

The letter invoked Article 181(1) of the Federal Constitution and the signatories' claimed authority as heads of religion in their Luak, while the Mufti confirmed receiving it and said the matter lay outside his department's jurisdiction and sat instead with the Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Affairs Department.

“Faudzinaim confirmed that the letter had been sent to his office, but that matter is not within his jurisdiction. The matter is outside the jurisdiction of the mufti’s department. It is under the Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Affairs Department,” he told Malaysiakini.”

The Comptroller of the Royal Household, Azizi Ali, has separately stated that the 5 June proclamation is invalid and unrecognised under the constitution, law, and custom of Negeri Sembilan (Malaysiakini in English, 19 June).

At the Masjid Dato' Undang Luak Jelebu a yellow carpet was laid for Tunku Nadzaruddin's arrival and the prayer was read.

Malaysiakini's Malay version of the article placed the styled title “Yamtuan Besar” in inverted commas, as noting that his proclamation as successor to Tuanku Muhriz remains disputed (Malaysiakini in Malay, 19 June).

What we are watching for

23 to 25 June 2026: The Conference of Rulers convenes.

7 July 2026: The hearing of the set-aside application approaches, with the prior question of the court’s jurisdiction and the justiciability of the dispute still to be resolved.

The Election Commission’s calendar for the Negeri Sembilan state election:

18 July: Nomination Day
28 July: Early Voting
1 August: Polling Day
First sitting of the new State Assembly (date to be announced)

Summary

Last week brought the chieftains’ application to set aside the injunction restraining the DKU, now fixed for hearing in July. The record to date has gone against them: the High Court refused their May application for a stay on the removal of the Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong, and on 5 June it granted the injunction sought by the DKU’s secretary to preserve the status quo.

Every interlocutory application brought by the chieftains has so far been unsuccessful, while the substantive questions that will determine the dispute remain unheard.

The Conference of Rulers convenes from 23 to 25 June, while the state election runs separately toward polling on 1 August.

New posts written by this publication last week

Footnote: ¹ Mubarak Dohak ceased to hold office as Undang of Luak Sungei Ujong on 17 April 2026. His removal occurred under the custom of the Luak and was acknowledged by the Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) under Article 16 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959. Under Article 16(3), DKU advice on such questions is final and cannot be challenged in any court.

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Who Is Tuanku Aishah Rohani, the Tunku Ampuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan?

Anak Nogori — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 02:13:55 GMT

Who is Tuanku Aishah Rohani?

Tuanku Aishah Rohani binti Almarhum Tengku Besar Mahmud turns 74 today.

The title she carries, Tunku Ampuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, makes it easy to assume a life lived entirely in palaces and ceremonies, when the path to it was far more ordinary.

She was born on 19 June 1952 in Batu Gajah, Perak, and educated at Sekolah Rendah Sultan Sulaiman in Kuala Terengganu, before continuing at the Convent in Taiping and later Convent Bukit Nanas in Kuala Lumpur.

She was born into the Terengganu royal family, yet her early adult life was modest by royal standards.

In the early 1970s, she was working as a bank clerk in Kuala Lumpur, at a time when a young Negeri Sembilan prince, Tunku Muhriz ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir, then the Tunku Besar Seri Menanti, was working as a junior officer at Citibank. The two met as colleagues in the working world of the early 1970s.

They were engaged at the Terengganu royal residence in Kuala Lumpur in February 1973, and married at Istana Maziah in Kuala Terengganu on 25 April 1974.

The marriage settled into a family life that brought three sons. The eldest, Tunku Ali Redhauddin, born in 1977, today holds his father’s former title of Tunku Besar Seri Menanti and is the senior of the royal princes. His brother Tunku Zain Al-’Abidin, born in 1982, holds the title of Tunku Panglima Besar, while the youngest, the late Tunku Alif Hussein Saifuddin Al-Amin, born in 1984, would through his early years come to reshape his mother’s sense of purpose.

At the time, more than three decades would pass between the wedding and the throne of Negeri Sembilan.

For most of her married life, she was the wife of a prince who lived largely outside the public eye, and her installation as Tunku Ampuan Besar came only in April 2009, with her husband’s own installation as Yang di-Pertuan Besar following that October.

What is her Terengganu lineage?

By birth, she comes from one of the principal branches of the Terengganu royal family. Her father, Tengku Seri Utama Raja Tengku Besar Mahmud ibni Almarhum Sultan Zainal Abidin III, was a son of Sultan Zainal Abidin III, who reigned in Terengganu from 1881 to 1918.

Her family is closely connected to much of modern Malaysian royal history. Three of her paternal uncles went on to hold the Terengganu throne, Sultan Muhammad II, Sultan Sulaiman Badrul Alam Shah, and Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah, the last of whom served as the 4th Yang di-Pertuan Agong between 1965 and 1970.

That line extends to the present day. Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin’s son, Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah, was her first cousin, and the reigning Sultan of Terengganu, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, is her first cousin once removed.

What shaped her public life?

The defining influence on her later work appears to have begun within her own family. Tunku Alif was born with a condition affecting the brain that required specialised lifelong care, and she chose to train for that care herself.

She travelled to the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential in Pennsylvania, in the United States, where she studied methods of cognitive development for children with severe disabilities, and she applied what she learned both to her son’s care and to advising other families facing similar challenges.

Tunku Ali Redhauddin has since written about what that care involved at home. It began with a book about brain-injured children and early sessions at a centre called the Nury Institute.

Through the Pennsylvania institute’s off-campus programme, the family worked Alif through a daily routine: patterning to coax him into crawling, an inclined plane to practise those movements down a slope, and masking at intervals, a breath work therapy technique, to train his breathing.

In time, Tuanku Muhriz sold his company to free the time and the funds for an intensive version of the programme, and with the household’s means reduced, Tunku Ali and his brother Tunku Zain were put through school with financial help from extended relatives.

In his essay, Tunku Ali singled out compassion as “a word my mother used often” (Malay Mail, 22 January 2016).

Tunku Alif died on 15 January 2016 at the age of 31 and was buried at the Seri Menanti Royal Mausoleum.

What began as a mother’s effort to help her own child grew into a lasting interest in welfare, healthcare, and children. The experience marked the causes that Tunku Aishah Rohani would go on to champion.

What has she taken on as Tunku Ampuan Besar?

Her public role has centred on education, welfare, and community service. Since December 2011 she has served as Chancellor of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), the second person to hold the post after the late Tuanku Najihah.

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She is Royal Patron of the Negeri Sembilan branch of the Girl Guides Association, and in November 2024 she presided over its centenary, telling members to keep up their community work and offering her prayers for their success.

Her other patronages include the Inner Wheel Club of Kuala Lumpur and welfare associations supporting women and families across the state, and much of her work takes place away from the headlines, in visits to hospitals, welfare homes, schools, and community organisations.

This is the kind of public role that accumulates quietly, over years, well away from the spotlight.

Two institutions carry her name today.

The first is Hospital Tunku Ampuan Besar Tuanku Aishah Rohani, the paediatric specialist hospital run by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Cheras.

The second is Sekolah Menengah Sains Tuanku Aishah Rohani, a girls science boarding school renamed in her honour in 2019.

Such honours reflect two themes that have defined her public life: children’s welfare and healthcare on the one hand, and education on the other.

What does her story say about her?

This is the story of a woman who spent most of her adult life outside the throne room, who built an ordinary working life with the man she married before his accession to throne decades later, who crossed the world to learn how to care for her son, and who carried those lessons into years of public service.

As the saying goes,

"Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung." (Where we plant our feet, there we hold up the sky).

A consort’s place in Negeri Sembilan is built slowly, across years of duty, family, and service performed without fanfare.

On her 74th birthday, that may be the most fitting way to understand both Tuanku Aishah Rohani and the title she holds. Not as a rank inherited, but as a role shaped through decades of service to others.

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Sources:

How Does a Consort Become Tunku Ampuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan?

Anak Nogori — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 08:29:37 GMT

The dispute over the Negeri Sembilan throne has drawn renewed attention to the styles and titles associated with the office of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, including Tunku Ampuan Besar, the title traditionally borne by his consort.

How is the title of Tunku Ampuan Besar conferred?

The title is conferred at a formal installation ceremony and the recommendation that leads to it comes from within Adat.

Negeri Sembilan comprises the Luak berundang, ruled by the Undangs, and the Luak Tanah Mengandung, the mother-territory Luaks under the direct patronage of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar. These include Ulu Muar, Jempol, Terachi, Gunung Pasir and Inas, together with several smaller Luaks.

The Penghulu of these Luaks render their allegiance to the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, including at his own installation (Negeri Sembilan Government Portal, 2019).

Before an installation of a Tunku Ampuan Besar can take place, the candidate for the title is recommended by the Penghulu of the Luak Tanah Mengandung, in consultation with the Orang Empat Istana of the palace.

After they reach consensus, they seek the consent of the reigning Yang di-Pertuan Besar, and the installation date is fixed only once that consent is given.

How was Tuanku Aishah Rohani installed as Tunku Ampuan Besar?

Tuanku Aishah Rohani married Tunku Muhriz on 25 April 1974, when he held the title of Tunku Besar Seri Menanti.

On 14 April 2009, Tuanku Aishah Rohani Tengku Besar Mahmud was installed as the 11th Tunku Ampuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan at the Balairong Seri of Istana Besar Seri Menanti, in a ceremony The Star described as steeped in royal splendour, tradition and local custom, with the title bestowed on her by her consort, the Yang di-Pertuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz (The Star, 20 April 2009).

Why was she installed before the Yang di-Pertuan Besar?

Custom seats the consort first. Tuanku Aishah Rohani’s installation in April 2009 happened six months before the installation of Tuanku Muhriz himself, held on 26 October 2009 at the same Istana Besar Seri Menanti (Tourism Malaysia, 2009).

Arranging the ceremonies in this order allowed the Tunku Ampuan Besar, already installed, to be seated beside His Highness at his own pertabalan.

Why is the title back in the news?

An Instagram account promoting the Galeri Tuanku Ja’afar in Seremban recently marked the 14 June birthday of Tunku Mimi Wahida, the wife of Tunku Nadzaruddin, with the style “Tunku Ampuan Besar,” the consort title that accompanies the office of Yang di-Pertuan Besar.

Why the correct usage of the title matters

Tuanku Muhriz remains the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, the position held by both the federal and the state governments and set out in full in Tuanku Muhriz Is Still the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan.

Beyond the question of who reigns, the title carries a requirement of its own. It attaches only through the customary recommendation of the Penghulu of the Luak Tanah Mengandung, the consent of the reigning Yang di-Pertuan Besar, and a formal installation at the Balairong Seri. Absent that process, the style of Tunku Ampuan Besar passes to no one.

Tuanku Aishah Rohani remains the Tunku Ampuan Besar. A reference by any third party to another holder of either title is, on that reading, inaccurate.

Footnote: This publication has not independently verified the claims in the Instagram post.

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Sources:

Tuanku Aishah Rohani Takes Her Place as Tunku Ampuan Besar (The Star, 20 April 2009)
The Installation Ceremony of the 11th Negeri Sembilan Ruler (Tourism Malaysia, 2009)
Istiadat Ulangan Penghulu Luak Tanah Mengandung Mengadap Menjunjung Duli (Negeri Sembilan Government Portal, 2019)
A Philanthropic Royal Family (The Star, 14 January 2024)
Chancellor (Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, accessed 2026)
Anak Nogori is independent commentary on the unfolding constitutional crisis in Negeri Sembilan, where centuries-old Adat Perpatih, royal succession law, and modern political manoeuvring are colliding in ways Malaysia has never seen before. If you find this useful, share it with someone who should be following this, or subscribe to receive the latest articles in your inbox.

Anak Nogori Weekly Round-Up (8–14 June 2026)

Anak Nogori — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 02:00:50 GMT

What happened last week

9 June 2026, Tuesday: The Negeri Sembilan Palace, through its Comptroller of the Royal Household Datuk Azizi Mohamad Ali, stated that the 5 June ceremony at a hotel in Alor Gajah carried no legal effect, and that by accepting the purported title Tunku Nadzaruddin had relinquished his hereditary office of Tunku Panglima Besar (Scoop, 9 June 2026). Read their press statement here.

On the political track, UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed that Barisan Nasional would contest the state on its own after Pakatan Harapan announced it would field candidates in all 36 seats (Malay Mail, 9 June 2026).

11 June 2026, Thursday: Tuanku Muhriz proclaimed his second son, Tunku Zain Al-’Abidin, as the new Tunku Panglima Besar, filling the office left vacant by the events of 9 June (The Star, 11 June 2026).

The proclamation drew a constitutional objection. A lawyer for the Undang of Jelebu, Khairul Azam, contended that conferring the title required prior consultation with the Ruling Chiefs under Article 26 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution 1959 (Malaysiakini, 12 June 2026).

However, constitutional law academic Prof Emeritus Datuk Noor Aziah Mohd Awal took the contrary view, describing the title as a hereditary appointment within the royal household that the Article 26 does not reach (Astro Awani, 13 June 2026).

12 June 2026, Friday: After a special meeting, the Election Commission set the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election, with nomination on 18 July, early voting on 28 July, and polling on 1 August, a fourteen-day campaign, and 889,490 registered voters across 439 polling centres (FMT, 12 June 2026).

Commentary worth reading

7 June 2026, Sunday: Business Today’s primer on the two-part structure of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution, a steady walk through how the written Constitution and Adat Perpatih sit together, useful background for readers coming to the dispute for the first time (Business Today, 7 June 2026).

13 June 2026, Saturday: Astro Awani’s account of the expert view that the proclamation of Tunku Zain is the customary prerogative of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar rather than a conferment governed by Article 26, a useful primer on where the title question sits between the written Constitution and the royal household (Astro Awani, 13 June 2026).

13 June 2026, Saturday: The Star’s combined preview of the Johor and Negeri Sembilan polls, for readers tracking the timetable, the seat arithmetic, and the turnout machinery rather than the succession dispute (The Star, 13 June 2026).

What we are watching for next week

The rival Yang di-Pertuan Besar proclamation: The Palace stated on 9 June that the 5 June ceremony carries no legal effect, yet public material aligned with the proclamation continues to use the royal styles. An Instagram account promoting the Galeri Tuanku Ja’afar in Seremban marked the 14 June birthday of Tunku Mimi Wahida, the wife of Tunku Nadzaruddin, with the style “Tunku Ampuan Besar,” the consort title that accompanies the office of Yang di-Pertuan Besar. A consort becomes Tunku Ampuan Besar only on installation, and that installation follows a recommendation from the Penghulu of the Luak Tanah Mengandung.

Run-up to nomination: Candidate line-ups take shape ahead of nomination on 18 July, with Pakatan Harapan committed to all 36 seats and Barisan Nasional contesting alone. The composition of each slate will be the first concrete signal of how the parties intend to fight a campaign whose backdrop is a contested throne.

On the horizon:

23–25 June 2026, Tuesday to Thursday: The Conference of Rulers convenes, with attention on whether Tuanku Muhriz takes the Negeri Sembilan seat.

7 July 2026, Tuesday: The contempt hearing at the Seremban High Court.

28 July 2026, Tuesday: The hearing on jurisdiction, reaching the Article 16(3) finality provision.

1 August 2026, Saturday: Polling day for the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election.

The contempt and jurisdiction hearings are before the Seremban High Court. This publication has set out its constitutional reading, and it takes no view on the matters the court will decide, including any question of contempt, while they remain live.

Summary

The week drew the two tracks of this crisis a little further apart. The political question moved decisively toward the ballot, with a polling date, a campaign window, and two coalitions preparing to face the voters.

The customary and constitutional question moved in the opposite direction, deeper into the royal household and the courts, as a princely title was withdrawn from one claimant and conferred on another, and a fresh argument opened over which provision, if any, governs that act.

Running beneath both, the rival proclamation held its ground in public, with Tunku Nadzaruddin still styled Yang di-Pertuan Besar and his wife, Tunku Mimi Wahida, greeted this week as Tunku Ampuan Besar.

New posts written by this publication last week

Press Statement: Vacancy of the Hereditary Title of Tunku Panglima Besar, One of the Four Princes, Negeri Sembilan. A palace statement has declared that the 5 June Melaka proclamation is void, and that reaching for the Yang di-Pertuan Besar title cost Tunku Nadzaruddin the Tunku Panglima Besar title.
What Is the Tunku Panglima Besar, and Why Did Tunku Nadzaruddin Lose It to Tunku Zain?. A royal title changed hands on 11 June 2026 in the middle of a succession fight. This article covers what the Tunku Panglima Besar is, who may hold it, and what it means to hold it.
Is Rais Yatim an Independent Expert, or the Undangs’ Appointed Counsel?. A 2 April 2026 letter names Rais Yatim the Undangs’ Penasihat dan Peguam Utama. Can a retained lawyer also be a neutral constitutional expert?
An Anonymous Law Review’s Case Against Tuanku Muhriz Examined. A critical examination of the evidence, assumptions, and constitutional reasoning underlying the paper’s case against Tuanku Muhriz.

About Weekly Round-Ups

Weekly Round-Ups are published every Monday morning. Each round-up covers what happened the previous week, what we are watching for in the week ahead, and links to posts published that week.

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