KUALA LUMPUR – Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Ismail Lasim has reportedly executed a major U-turn in the state’s royal crisis, retracting a letter sent to the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal and pledging his support for Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir as the Yang di-Pertuan Besar.
According to a Malay Mail report citing sources, Ismail met the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal, Tan Sri Syed Danial Syed Ahmad, earlier this week to submit a letter formally withdrawing his objections to Tuanku Muhriz’s position as the state ruler.
Sources added that the menteri besar is now expected to seek an audience with Tuanku Muhriz to express his loyalty and request royal consent to reconvene the state legislative assembly.
The assembly sitting — originally scheduled for mid-October before being called off — has since been rescheduled to begin on November 26.
The retraction letter is also understood to affirm the unanimous support of the 10 sacked state executive council (exco) members for Tuanku Muhriz.
Their shift in stance follows the statement issued by the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal after the 273rd Conference of Rulers meeting on October 14, alongside the Seremban High Court’s June 5 ruling granting an ad interim injunction to preserve the status quo.
At the October 14 meeting, the Malay Rulers urged all parties involved in the Negeri Sembilan royal dispute to exercise wisdom and patience, resolve their differences through lawful channels, and warned outsiders against interfering in or politicising the crisis. They stressed that the matter must be settled courteously according to custom and the Negeri Sembilan constitution.
Just two days later on October 16, Tuanku Muhriz publicly rebuked Ismail in viral social media clips, telling a crowd that the menteri besar had previously written to the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal claiming he was no longer the Yang di-Pertuan Besar.
In the footage, Tuanku Muhriz questioned Ismail’s motive for seeking a meeting and told him to “go away” until he retracted his earlier remarks.
Negeri Sembilan has been gripped by a constitutional and royal impasse since April, when four purported undangs (territorial chieftains) claimed to remove Tuanku Muhriz as ruler, before purporting to proclaim Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Ja’afar as the “new” ruler at a five-star hotel in Melaka in June.
In September, Ismail endorsed an exco statement backing Tuanku Muhriz’s purported removal — a move that prompted Tuanku Muhriz to revoke the appointments of the entire state executive council. – November 14, 2026