Aminuddin Stays On As Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar, To Lead Minority Government

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Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun will continue to lead the state administration despite 14 Barisan Nasional assemblymen withdrawing their support — after the Yang di-Pertuan Besar, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, decreed that the current government should carry on.

Speaking at a press conference at his official residence in Seremban today (27 April), Aminuddin said he had briefed Tuanku Muhriz on the current levels of support in the state assembly, and that the ruler had directed the administration to continue as usual.

We will run the existing state government until there is a clear decision. I will continue my duties.

He added that the state would function as a minority government.

BN Withdraws, PN Pounces, Zahid Pumps The Brakes

The crisis began earlier in the day when the state Umno chief, Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias — rumoured to be the next Menteri Besar — announced that Barisan Nasional’s (BN) 14 assemblymen were withdrawing their support for Aminuddin.

He linked the move to a separate dispute involving four chieftains — the Undang Yang Empat — seeking to remove Tuanku Muhriz from his position as Yang di-Pertuan Besar, under the unique succession customs of Adat Pepatih.

The withdrawal prompted an immediate response from Perikatan Nasional (PN), with Negeri Sembilan opposition leader Mohamad Hanifah Abu Baker announcing that PN was ready to work with BN to form a new state government — a statement made before BN had even convened internally to discuss the matter.

BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi acknowledged PN’s move but stopped well short of accepting it.

In politics, one would surely be on the lookout for opportunities at all times and trying to seize them.

Asked whether BN would take up the offer, Ahmad Zahid said it had not yet been discussed by the coalition’s top leadership.

BN will discuss it first, he said, adding that he would be meeting all 14 BN assemblymen personally.

DAP Draws The Line — And Shows Up In Person

DAP moved quickly to foreclose any such arrangement.

Secretary-General Anthony Loke — who also chairs DAP Negeri Sembilan — announced that all 11 DAP assemblymen would continue to back Aminuddin, and that the party would reject any attempt to form what he called a “kerajaan tebuk atap,” or backdoor government.

Loke also introduced a constitutional dimension largely absent from the public debate, noting that while the Undang Yang Empat hold unique powers under Adat Pepatih, any move to dethrone the Yang di-Pertuan Besar must follow the process set out under Article X(1) of the Negeri Sembilan Constitution — drawing a clear line between the royal dispute and the political one.

Loke was present alongside state Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders at Aminuddin’s press conference, a visible show of coalition solidarity at the moment it mattered most.

Aminuddin said there were currently no plans to meet with the BN assemblymen to resolve the conflict.

The Negeri Sembilan state assembly has 36 seats, with a simple majority requiring 19; PH holds 17 seats, BN holds 14, and PN holds five.

BN and PN together hold exactly 19 seats, but any attempt to unseat Aminuddin still requires a formal vote of no confidence to be tabled and passed on the assembly floor — a step that has not been taken.

Under Malaysia’s Westminster system, a Menteri Besar does not automatically fall when majority support is lost. He can only be removed through a formal vote of no confidence passed on the assembly floor, a voluntary resignation, or the ruler’s withdrawal of confidence. None of those conditions has been met. Tuanku Muhriz has directed the administration to continue, a decree that carries constitutional weight; no political statement can override. BN’s withdrawal of support is, for now, exactly that: a statement. But the decree is a shield, not a solution. If BN and PN choose to force the issue — by calling for an emergency assembly sitting and tabling a formal motion of no confidence — Aminuddin’s 17 seats would not survive the vote. The ruler can direct a government to continue; he cannot compel assemblymen to vote against their declared positions.

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Aminuddin Stays On As Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar, To Lead Minority Government