Raja Perempuan Kelantan Kecewa Pemimpin Kelantan Negeri Tidak Lawat Sultan

KOTA BHARU: Raja Perempuan Kelantan, Tengku Anis Tengku Abdul Hamid melahirkan perasaan sedih dan kecewa dengan sikap pemimpin negeri ini yang tidak melawat Sultan Kelantan, Sultan Ismail Petra semasa menerima rawatan di Singapura.

Bagaimanapun Tengku Anis mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, isteri beliau Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor serta barisan Kabinet yang selalu bertanya khabar mengenai kesihatan Baginda.

"Sampai bekas Perdana Menteri Singapura Lee Kuan Yew pun datang berziarah, tetapi daripada pihak Kelantan tidak ada. Itu yang menyedihkan saya," titah Baginda dalam nada sebak di Majlis Solat Kesyukuran dan Sambutan Maulidul Rasul yang dihadiri lebih 5,000 hadirin yang memenuhi Dewan Kompleks Majlis Agama Islam Panji, dekat sini, hari ini.

Baginda bertitah, doktor yang merawat Tuanku Ismail melahirkan kekagumannya dengan kebesaran ayat al-Quran serta solat hajat yang diadakan sebelum itu kerana mampu menyedarkan kembali Tuanku Sultan.

"Kalau kita ikut perubatan, doktor tak akui Tuanku mampu sembuh. Tetapi berkat doa semua dan bacaan Yaa Siin dibacakan di hospital dan juga solat hajat, tiba-tiba Tuanku sedarkan diri. Jadi yang merawat Tuanku pun berasa kagum dengan ayat al-Quran yang dibaca. Betapa mustahak kita semua baca al-Quran," titah baginda.

BERNAMA

Poser after Sultan’s return
By JOCELINE TAN

It was a happy homecoming for the Sultan of Kelantan after 10 months in a Singapore hospital, but the unsettling backdrop to his return worries the PAS state government.

THE Sultan of Kelantan’s return to the state after 10 months’ stay in a Singapore hospital was a big event for Kelantanese.

There had been quite little news about his progress in Mount Elizabeth Hospital and Kelantanese were naturally anxious for a glimpse of their sovereign.

Sultan Ismail Petra Sultan Yahaya Petra smiled at those around him when he was brought from the government jet into the VIP lounge of the airport in Kota Baru.

The Tuanku, said senior state exco member Datuk Nik Amar Nik Abdullah, looked pleased to be back on Kelantan soil.

He looked smart in a dark suit, with a pale yellow blanket over his lap as he sat in a wheelchair made of plush leather and with a headrest.

Previous pictures of him were when he was still in hospital and confined to bed.

As such, the sight of him smiling and sitting up was a pleasant surprise for everyone.

“We are delighted he is home after so many months,” said Nik Amar who had last seen the Sultan two months ago in Singapore.

A royal yellow carpet had been specially laid out and it led all the way to a specially outfitted Alphard MPV that bore the royal insignia.

The Sultan’s return brought closure to the issue of whether he should continue to recuperate in Singapore or be brought home to recover.

There had also been questions on the constitutional consequences of the sovereign being out of the country for more than a year, and his homecoming meant that these questions were no longer an issue.

But his return has also raised a new question, namely, about the Regent’s role. Will the Regent, Tengku Muhammad Faris, continue to act on behalf of the Sultan or will the Sultan, now that he is home, resume his full powers?

This is the question now playing on the minds of Kelantanese, who are fiercely loyal to the palace regardless of the government of the day.

A state government official said the powers are still invested in the Regent until or unless the Kelantan Succession Council decides otherwise.

The tall and handsome Tengku Muhammad Faris was appointed Regent on May 26.

“There is no question or doubt about the role of the Regent at this time even if people are talking about it,” said the official.

A great deal of the local chatter has to do with the fact that while the Sultan was away, the Regent, 40, and his younger brother Tengku Muhammad Fakhry, 31, had not been seeing eye to eye on matters pertaining to their father and the throne.

Among other things, the two brothers were not in agreement on whether their father ought to continue treatment in Singapore or be brought home.

Tengku Muhammad Fakhry, who carries the title of Tengku Temenggong and is third in line to the throne, had objected to moves to bring the Sultan home.

Their rift went public in January this year when the Regent broke his silence and declared that only he could act on behalf of the Sultan until the sovereign had fully recovered.

Tengku Temenggong, often referred to by the initials T.T., had also taken the Regent to court for revoking his seat on the powerful Succession Council. But he failed in his application for a judicial review on the matter.

The Sultan’s recuperation in Singapore was also not without controversy.

In recent weeks, the commoner who seems to have privileged access to information about the royal spat is the controversial Kelantan blogger Syed Azidi Syed Aziz, better known as Kickdefella.

His blog has reproduced copies of a total of four police reports lodged in Singapore over the issue of access to the royal patient some time in October last year.

On top of that, the Sultan’s second wife Elia Suhana Ahmad, 31, emerged with allegations that she was denied access to her husband.

Even as shouts of “Daulat Tuanku” filled the air at the airport on Thursday, Utusan Malaysia reported that some quarters were distributing pamphlets bearing the pictures of five people said to have committed treason against the Sultan.

This is the backdrop to the otherwise happy homecoming of the Sultan.

The Regent had gone to Singapore to escort the Sultan home. The Regent’s aircraft landed shortly before that of the Sultan and the younger man was waiting at the arrival entrance where he formally kissed his father’s hand in welcome.

When the convoy of vehicles left the airport for the palace, the Sultan’s car went first followed by the Regent’s black Mercedes-Benz which has the title Pemangku Raja or Regent printed in Jawi on the front plate.

The state executive council was present at the airport except for Mentri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat who was unwell. He had reportedly been admitted to the Kubang Krian Hospital a day earlier.

PAS politicians urged reporters not to read too much into Nik Aziz’s absence.

Nik Aziz has found himself wedged in the middle of the royal dispute, caught between whether he should answer to the Regent or to those around the Sultan as well.

“The government will go on with its work. For now it’s okay, but only God knows what lies ahead,” said the above government official.