ROYAL BANQUET;
a success with no untoward incident
nst
kuala kangsar
The royal banquet to commemorate Perak Sultan Azlan Shah’s silver jubilee celebration could not have been more different compared with the swearing-in ceremony of the new Mentri Besar hardly a week ago.
Last night’s banquet proceeded peacefully with no untoward incident, whereas the swearing-in of Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir was marred by loud protests.
Colourful fireworks, instead of an unruly crowd, greeted royal guests including several Sultans and crown princes from other states last night.
Yang diPertuan Agong Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah and the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah were among the royalty at the banquet.
All the Rulers except for the Sultan of Johor, Raja of Perlis and Yang diPertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan attended the banquet.
The Sultan of Johor was represented by Tengku Mahkota Tunku Ibrahim Ismail Sultan Iskandar, the Raja of Perlis by Raja Muda Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin and the Sultan of Terengganu by the President of the Terengganu Regency Advisory Council, Tengku Seri Panglima Raja Tengku Baderulzaman Sultan Mahmud.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Dr Zambry, state executive councillors and assemblymen were the other guests.
Former Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin attended the banquet along with other Pakatan Rakyat state assemblymen.
He said he had come to take part in the celebration.
“We (the former state government) planned this celebration many months ago. In fact, I was the head of the planning committee,” Mohammad Nizar said before performing Maghrib prayers at the Ubudiah Mosque.
A large group of town folk gathered along the river bank to catch a glimpse of the royal guests. Many brought along food and treated the outing like a picnic.
A group claiming to want to hand over a memorandum on the current political situation in Perak was nowhere in sight as police tightly secured areas surrounding the palace.
Royal banquet a success with no untoward incident
Malaysia Star
