Ex-Malaysia PM Muhyiddin charged with sedition for allegedly insulting former king, lawyer says

GUA MUSANG, Kelantan: Malaysia has charged opposition leader and former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin with sedition for allegedly insulting the country’s former king, his lawyer said on Tuesday (Aug 27).

Muhyiddin, who led Malaysia for 17 months between 2020 and 2021, was charged at a court in the northeastern state of Kelantan with sedition over remarks made in a political speech this month. He pleaded not guilty, his lawyer said.

Malaysia practices a unique form of monarchy, where the country’s nine sultans take turns to be king every five years. The monarchy plays a largely ceremonial role and is held in deep respect.

Negative remarks about royalty can be prosecuted under a colonial-era Sedition Act.

In the political speech on Aug 15, Muhyiddin had allegedly questioned the credibility of former king Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah following Malaysia’s general election in 2022, which resulted in a hung parliament.

In the speech, Muhyiddin said that he had secured the backing of sufficient lawmakers to form a government after the election but questioned why the then king had not invited him to be sworn in as the country’s prime minister.

“I had (the support of) 115 parliamentarians. If we followed the Constitution, I had a total that was more than enough to become the prime minister. I don’t want to bring it up, but it is a record of history,” he said.

“But I don’t know how the king at the time did not invite me to the palace to be sworn in. Who was the king at the time? Pahang,” he added, referring to Sultan Abdullah.

Sultan Abdullah appointed Anwar Ibrahim prime minister in November 2022.