Anak Nogori Weekly Round-Up (14-20 September, 2026)

A dramatic week with the EXCO announcing Tuanku Muhriz’s removal, the AGC calling it invalid, the State Secretary refusing to gazette it, and all EXCO member appointments revoked.

Sep 21, 2026

What happened last week

14 Sep 2026, Monday: The Dewan Keadilan dan Undang (DKU) issued a statement following a special sitting on 13 September. It said Tuanku Muhriz remains the Yang di-Pertuan Besar and that no vacancy exists, restated its 31 July position that three of the four signatories of the 19 April proclamation did not hold the office of Undang on that date, and said that no enquiry under Article 10(1) had taken place and that Tuanku Muhriz was given neither notice nor an opportunity to be heard (Malay Mail, 14 September 2026). The DKU described the signing of the 5 September document by six individuals, among them the removed Undang Mubarak Dohak, as derhaka (treason) under Adat and law, and instructed its secretary, Raja Norazli Raja Nordin, to lodge a police report. It also questioned the need for the state government’s proposed Jawatankuasa Pendamai (reconciliation committee), on the ground that questions of Adat fall within Article 16, and said it would seek clarification of the committee’s terms of reference (The Star, 14 September 2026).

On the same day, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed that police had opened an investigation paper into Menteri Besar Ismail Lasim’s claim that he signed the Surat Cara Proklamasi (Instrument of Proclamation) unwillingly and under duress (Malay Mail, 14 September 2026). State Assembly Speaker Awaludin Said said no motion of no confidence against Ismail had been filed for the next sitting, which Tuanku Muhriz is scheduled to open on 16 October, and that matters treated as unlawful under state law should first be settled by the authorities, including the DKU, before reaching the House (Malay Mail, 14 September 2026). The Court of Appeal’s e-review to fix a date for its decision on staying the committal proceedings was also listed for this day; no report of the date fixed had appeared at the time of writing.

15 Sep 2026, Tuesday: After State Executive Council Meeting No. 6 of 2026, Ismail issued a statement, which said the Menteri Besar has no unilateral power to remove the Yang di-Pertuan Besar or declare the office vacant, that “a proclamation does not, by itself, create constitutional authority”, and that a matter of this weight should be settled through constitutional and legal processes, including judicial determination (The Edge Malaysia, 15 September 2026).

16 Sep 2026, Wednesday: A statement issued by members of the executive council said the council, chaired by Ismail, had decided the previous day that the 19 April proclamation was valid, that it had been completed under Article 10(2) when Ismail signed it on 3 August, and that Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Ja’afar had been recognised as Yang di-Pertuan Besar with immediate effect (FMT, 16 September 2026). Every council member except PAS’s Serting assemblyman Fairuz Isa had republished the statement (FMT, 17 September 2026). Lawyer Rosli Dahlan asked who had authorised a council statement signed off only as the line-up of council members (FMT, 16 September 2026).

The Undang of Luak Rembau, Hassan Ab Hamid, replied the same day that an executive council decision cannot set aside DKU advice on Adat, citing Article 16(3), and that the question is whether the power to remove a Ruler was exercised in compliance with Article 10 (FMT, 16 September 2026).

That night, the law firm Halim & Ismail, acting for the DKU and Raja Norazli as defendants in the Seremban originating summons, wrote to Ismail, the members of the council, the State Secretary and the State Legal Adviser. The letter described the announcement as tantamount to a coup and an act of treason, said it breached the interim injunction of 5 June, and stated that its clients intended to begin contempt proceedings (The Star, 17 September 2026, Malay Mail, 17 September 2026).

17 Sep 2026, Thursday: Ismail told reporters in Seremban that the council had discussed and unanimously decided on the proclamation at its 15 September meeting, and that the State Secretary had been instructed to proceed with gazetting it. He took no questions (The Star, 17 September 2026, FMT, 17 September 2026). The DKU said the council’s decision lay outside the council’s jurisdiction and had no legal effect, and that the council could not cure the defects the DKU had identified in the April proclamation (FMT, 17 September 2026). Former Menteri Besar Aminuddin Harun, who declined to sign the proclamation in April, said he did not recognise the 16 September announcement and called for action against the council members involved (FMT, 17 September 2026). DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke called on council members who no longer recognise Tuanku Muhriz to resign (Malay Mail, 17 September 2026), and Palong assemblyman Mustapha Nagoor, a council member, rejected the call (FMT, 17 September 2026).

That evening, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) issued a statement which said the 19 April proclamation was invalid because it failed the mandatory requirements of Article 10, that there was no evidence any Article 10(1) ground applied to Tuanku Muhriz, that neither the Menteri Besar nor the council had unilateral power over the office, and that any gazettement would be unconstitutional. It noted that the Seremban High Court’s interlocutory injunction remained in force, and cited Article 16(3) on the finality of DKU advice (Bernama, 17 September 2026, FMT, 17 September 2026).

Late that night, the office of the State Secretary, Mohd Zafir Ibrahim, said it accepted the AGC’s advice, would take no action to gazette or implement the proclamation, and had referred the matter to the State Legal Adviser (Bernama, 17 September 2026).

Tuanku Muhriz returned from abroad the same night and was met at KLIA Terminal 1 by about 200 supporters, who were reported shouting “Daulat Tuanku” (long live the Ruler) and “tangkap penderhaka” (arrest the traitors) (FMT, 17 September 2026).

A letter was issued in the name of Tunku Nadzaruddin that purported to terminate Raja Norazli’s appointment as DKU secretary from 17 September, citing Article 25 (Malaysiakini, 17 September 2026). Article 25 provides that the secretary holds office at His Highness’s pleasure, and the DKU, the AGC and the State Secretary each proceed on the basis that Tuanku Muhriz remains His Highness.

18 Sep 2026, Friday: A secretariat speaking for the signatories, which describes itself as representing the Undang Yang Empat and the Tunku Besar of Tampin, said the AGC had no right to interfere in the state’s internal affairs, maintained that the removal had followed the prescribed procedure including an investigation, and called on the State Secretary to resign or face disciplinary action for declining the instruction of the government of the day (Malaysiakini, 18 September 2026). Utusan Malaysia reported the secretariat as citing a preliminary inquiry on 5 March and a further inquiry on 19 April, and as saying that gazetting is not a condition of a proclamation’s validity (Utusan Malaysia, 19 September 2026).

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged the Menteri Besar not to be swayed by political pressure and said that any proposal from the Undangs or others must follow the proper procedures in full, beyond which the federal government would not interfere (The Star, 18 September 2026, Bernama, 18 September 2026).

After Friday prayers at Masjid Diraja Tuanku Munawir, Seri Menanti, Tuanku Muhriz received a memorandum of loyalty from a supporters’ secretariat, presented by Mohd Aluwi Sari. State Secretary Mohd Zafir Ibrahim, approached by reporters after the same prayers, declined to comment (Utusan Malaysia, 18 September 2026).

19 Sep 2026, Saturday: Emirul Sarifudin Nor Azmi, lawyer for Tunku Nadzaruddin, the four signatories and the Tunku Besar of Tampin, said the AGC’s view was an opinion rather than a binding order, and urged the executive council to press the Chief Secretary to the Government to begin disciplinary proceedings against the State Secretary for declining to gazette (FMT, 19 September 2026, Kosmo, 19 September 2026). The allegation of misconduct is Emirul’s, and the State Secretary has not responded to it publicly.

19 Sep 2026, Saturday: Former Menteri Besar Rais Yatim told Berita Harian that the AGC had no jurisdiction or mandate to intervene and that its view was no valid reference for the state administration. He cited Article 71 of the Federal Constitution as barring federal involvement in questions of succession, said the AGC’s statement risked appearing partisan, and described the AGC as lebih sudu daripada kuah (the spoon larger than the gravy, said of one who oversteps his place). He also said the State Secretary could not refuse an executive council decision to gazette and had acted without consulting the council, and that the AGC had misread the Adat preserved in the state Constitution (Berita Harian, 19 September 2026).

20 Sep 2026, Sunday: Istana Besar Seri Menanti issued a statement stating that Tuanku Muhriz had revoked the appointments of the members of the State Executive Council with immediate effect, for breaching their oath of office through their actions and statements of 15 September. The statement cited Article 38(5) of the Constitution, under which a member of the council other than the Menteri Besar holds office at the Ruler’s pleasure. It said the members had taken and signed their oath and pledge of allegiance before Tuanku Muhriz on 7 August, pledging loyalty to the Ruler and the royal institution, undertaking to preserve the state Constitution and acknowledging the authority of the DKU. Each affected member was informed in writing. The Menteri Besar, whose own appointment is unaffected, has been directed to submit a list of candidates for a new council under Article 38(2) and to ensure the administration continues without disruption (Malay Mail, 21 September 2026).

Read: What is Article 38 of the Negeri Sembilan Consitution 1959?

Commentary worth reading

17 September 2026, Negeri Sembilan: The constitution must prevail — Syed Hamid Albar: Syed Hamid Albar, a former law minister and foreign minister, argues in Malay Mail that the dispute should be decided by the words, structure and purpose of the state Constitution, and that where a genuine legal dispute exists the courts may have to settle it. He treats the Menteri Besar’s duress claim and the DKU’s position with equal legal caution, and his central point is that a document cannot create a constitutional power that does not otherwise exist. Readers should note that the piece was published on the morning the Menteri Besar confirmed the council’s decision, and it quotes approvingly the 15 September statement from which the Menteri Besar moved two days later (Malay Mail, 17 September 2026).

20 September 2026, COMMENT | Can N Sembilan throne change hands by announcement?: Lawyer GK Ganesan asks whether a throne can change hands by announcement and answers from the text. Article 10 lets the Undangs call upon the Ruler to withdraw or abdicate, on stated grounds and after a full and complete enquiry, and Article 11 fills a vacancy only once one has lawfully opened. He sets the Article 29 requirement that the Undangs act by at least three of their number against the dispute over whether each signatory held office, and he recalls the Federal Court’s 1980 decision in Othman Baginda, in which the court declined to rule on the appointment of an Undang of Jelebu two years before the ouster clause in Article 16(3) was added. The column first appeared on the author’s own site (GKG Legal, 16 September 2026, Malaysiakini, 20 September 2026).

20 September 2026, Calls grow for arrest of Nadzaruddin, Exco, for treason: The Vibes pulls together the week’s public scenes, from the crowd of about 200 at KLIA to more than 500 at Friday prayers in Seri Menanti, some wearing shirts reading Waghih-waghih Nogori sayang Tuanku Muhriz (the heirs of Negeri Sembilan love Tuanku Muhriz). It sets them beside the calls for arrests made by Aminuddin Harun and by the DKU’s lawyers (The Vibes, 20 September 2026).

20 September 2026, Was deposing a ruler part of your manifesto, Anwar asks Umno - Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the full weight of the government machinery would be deployed to defend constitutional monarchy. He said any dispute over the institution should be resolved under the state Constitution and the law rather than through the media or political parties, and that “it is not political parties that determine who becomes the ruler”. He asked by what right a state executive council could meet to depose a ruler, and whether that had appeared in any election manifesto (FMT, 20 September 2026).

What we are watching for

28 September 2026: Case management before the Seremban High Court in the contempt proceedings, in which the DKU and its secretary are seeking to have six individuals cited for contempt over the alleged breach of the interim injunction of 5 June. Justice Roz Mawar Rozain adjourned the matter to this date to receive updates on the parties’ legal challenges (FMT, 28 July 2026).

7 October 2026: The parties return to the Kuala Lumpur High Court to tell Justice Norliza Othman whether the judicial review brought by Mubarak and the three Undangs will continue in Kuala Lumpur or move to Seremban. The applications by the DKU, its secretary and two Undangs to intervene remain pending (Malay Mail, 10 August 2026). The application seeks mandamus to compel the Menteri Besar to sign the proclamation; the applicants now say he signed it on 3 August.

16 October 2026: Opening of the State Legislative Assembly’s five-day sitting, which Tuanku Muhriz is scheduled to officiate (Malay Mail, 14 September 2026).

19 October 2026: Case management at the Court of Appeal in the six’s appeal against the Seremban High Court’s grant of leave to the DKU and Raja Norazli to commence committal proceedings (Malay Mail, 7 September 2026).

Whether the police make any statement concerning the Menteri Besar’s report of 8 September.
Whether the Menteri Besar identifies those he says applied pressure on him to sign the 3 August proclamation.
Whether the DKU and its secretary, Raja Norazli Raja Nordin, file contempt proceedings against the members of the executive council.

New posts written by this publication last week

Was It Derhaka? Six Moments in the Negeri Sembilan Crisis
Updated: Did the Menteri Besar Sign the Proclamation Against Tuanku Muhriz on 3 August?, now covering the Menteri Besar’s statement of 15 September and the events of 16 and 17 September.

Sources:

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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.

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