Kelantan Palace strips Mahathir of ‘Darjah Kerabat’ award

KOTA BARU: The Kelantan Palace has revoked the Darjah Kerabat Yang Amat Dihormati (Al-Yunusi) title awarded to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2002, effective last Tuesday.

State secretary Datuk Mohd Faudzi Che Mamat, when contacted, confirmed the revocation of the award but did not mention the reason, Bernama reported.

He said Mahathir, who is also Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman, has been informed of the matter.

On Wednesday, the Kelantan Palace revoked the “Datuk Paduka” titles of Kelantan Amanah chairman Wan Abd Rahim Wan Abdullah and Parti Amanah Negara vice-president Husam Musa.

Wan Abdul Rahim said it is the prerogative of any state palace to withdraw state honorific titles and awards it had bestowed.

The former PAS strategist, affectionally known as Cikgu Rahim, said he accepted the withdrawal of the award with an open heart.

“We are obedient servants of His Royal Highness, the Sultan of Kelantan, so we accept the decision openly.

“It is not for us to defy the palace and we extend our humble gratitude to Tuanku for his wisdom on this matter.”

Wan Abdul Rahim said this was not the first time the Kelantan palace has withdrawn state awards. Former deputy mentri besar Datuk Mohd Asri Muda had his datukship removed when he was with PAS, but it was later reinstated.

Former Kelantan leader Datuk Ishak Lotfi Omar, former mentri besar Tan Sri Mohamed Yaacob and former Umno Information head Tan Sri Hussein Ahmad have also had their titles revoked at some point in their political career.

“It has happened in Kelantan before so it is something normal. Husam and I accept the decision and life goes on.”