THERE is something Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said before the Negeri Sembilan election that is worth remembering now.
On July 24, just days before voters went to the polls, the UMNO deputy president said Barisan Nasional had the best method to deal with the state’s royal crisis.
He did not explain what that method was.
“Tak apa, biar kita menang dulu. Kita menang dulu. Bila menang, besok kita dapat ilham,” he said after the BN manifesto launch, when asked how the coalition would resolve the dispute involving the four Undangs and Yang di-Pertuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir.
The message was clear enough.
Give BN the mandate first.BN won.
More than a month later, the crisis is still there.
In fact, it has become considerably more difficult.
The government formed after the August 1 election is now locked in an open dispute with the palace.
Menteri Besar Datuk Ismail Lasim has said he signed the controversial April 19 proclamation concerning Tuanku Muhriz under duress.
The state Exco subsequently endorsed the proclamation.
Then the Attorney-General’s Chambers stepped in and said the April 19 proclamation was invalid because it did not comply with the mandatory requirements of Article 10 of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution.
The AGC also made it clear that the Menteri Besar and state Exco do not have unilateral power to remove or vacate the position of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar.
The State Secretary’s Office subsequently said it would not gazette or implement the disputed proclamation.
Then came the latest escalation.
Tuanku Muhriz revoked the appointments of the state Exco members, saying they had breached their oath of office.
Ismail has rejected the move, saying he was not consulted and had not advised for the Exco members to be removed. He maintains that the existing line-up remains valid and will continue to function.
So, again, the question has to be asked:
Was this the solution BN promised?
Because before the election, UMNO and BN were not presenting themselves as newcomers trying to figure out Negeri Sembilan.
They presented themselves as people who understood the state.
They talked about experience.
They talked about Adat Perpatih.
They talked about respecting the institutions.
Mohamad himself said BN’s experience in governing Negeri Sembilan and its understanding of Adat Perpatih were among the reasons it could deal with the dispute.
He even warned that adat should be properly documented so that future disputes could be avoided.
There was a simple pitch to voters: BN knows this state. BN knows its customs. BN knows how to handle a crisis involving the palace.
That was before August 1.
Now UMNO is running the government while the state is caught in a constitutional confrontation involving the palace, the Menteri Besar and the Exco.
That is the contradiction UMNO has to explain.
For years, the party has presented itself as the defender of Malay unity and the Malay institutions.
But what does that mean when its own state government is caught up in a dispute over the position of the Malay ruler?
Malay unity cannot simply mean political unity behind UMNO.
Respect for the monarchy cannot be something invoked when it suits the political argument and set aside when the palace and the government disagree.
The difficult moments are precisely when respect for institutions is tested.
And Negeri Sembilan is now in one of those moments.
The AGC has already said there was no evidence that any of the disqualification grounds under Article 10(1) applied to Tuanku Muhriz.
It also said the validity and effect of the April proclamation must be determined through proper constitutional and legal processes.
That should have been a moment for the political temperature to come down.
Instead, it has gone up.
And UMNO cannot simply point back to the previous PH administration and say this is somebody else’s mess.
The party’s own assemblymen helped bring down the previous state government over its handling of the royal dispute.
That political crisis led to the state election.
BN asked voters for the mandate.
The voters gave it.
Now BN governs Negeri Sembilan.
And the royal crisis is still at the centre of the state’s politics.
Only this time, UMNO is no longer sitting on the opposition bench demanding answers.
It is the government that has to provide them.
That is the uncomfortable part.
UMNO spent the campaign saying it could handle the problem.
Mohamad Hasan specifically said BN had the method.
“Biar kita menang dulu.”
Well, BN won.
And the situation has moved from a dispute over a proclamation to a confrontation over the composition of the state executive council itself.
Amanah secretary-general Faiz Fadzil has now called for the Negeri Sembilan assembly to be dissolved and a fresh election held, arguing that UMNO has failed to respect the royal institution and that the political crisis has become untenable.
That is an opposition party’s position, and it should be treated as such.
But the call has landed because the political crisis is no longer theoretical.
There is a real dispute over who has authority to do what.
There is a dispute over the Exco.
There is a dispute over the April proclamation.
And there is a state government that says it will continue functioning despite the ruler’s revocation of the Exco appointments.
This is hardly the picture of stability BN sold to Negeri Sembilan voters.
And perhaps that is the question Umno now needs to answer without slogans, without blaming PH and without invoking Malay unity as a shield.
What was the solution?
The voters gave you the mandate.
The state is still waiting.
Because the party that said it knew how to solve Negeri Sembilan’s royal crisis now finds itself governing in the middle of one. – September 22, 2026
.JPG)
.jpeg)
