Can a member of the royal family become Malaysia’s Prime Minister?

It’s a very, very random question that we found ourselves asking one day: could a member of the Malaysian royal family stand for elections and run for Prime Minister?

Interestingly, it’s one without a clear answer, as we’ll reveal in a bit. But perhaps one thing that we realized no one really talks about, is that it’s actually kinda (?) been done before.

Our first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, was a prince of Kedah

… which is evidenced from his name Tunku, a royal title for princes of Kedah, Johor, and Negeri Sembilan. The seventh son of Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah (1864-1943), Tunku Abdul Rahman was treated as any royal would be in his youth:

“They (Tunku and his family) were royalty, and they walked outside their Istanas, the commoners gave way to them, and after doing obeisance, humbly watched them pass.” – From “Tunku Abdul Rahman: Prince and Premier”, pg. 19

With that being said, Tunku was known as a bit of a rebel, especially after he married a British woman, which was against Kedah royal convention at the time. However, it’s not exactly clear if Tunku broke any laws by becoming an elected official. The reason for that is…

The Constitution isn’t clear on if a royal can actually hold the office of PM

When it comes to the role of Prime Minister, the Constitution simply says that it has to be a member of the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) who is ‘likely to command the support of the majority of the members of the House’ (Article 43 (1)(a)), and that naturalized Malaysians are not allowed to become PM (Article 43(7)).

So theoretically, could a member of the royal family get elected to the Dewan Rakyat and go on to become Prime Minister? Well, we asked a practicing lawyer his opinion, and he said:

“Short answer: cannot. Must relinquish (royal status), because there would be conflict. I think we saw that in the Tunku Abdul Rahman case.” – Edwin Tomas, lawyer

While we’re not 100% sure exactly what ‘relinquishing royal status’ entails (possibly a Prince Harry situation?), nor if Tunku actually ‘gave up’ his royal status, Edwin adds that the reason here is more that a royal taking part in politics goes against convention and tradition, rather than it actually being a written law, since, in his words, ‘royalty is supposed to be neutral, independent, and above politics’. This is the exact reason why Parliament amended the Constitution in March 2022 to exempt members of the royal families from automatic voter registration.

“It’s not exactly a clear-cut position, and there is no clear law on this, mostly conventions that are abided.” – Edwin Tomas

Realistically, it’s very, very unlikely for a royal to become PM

Sure, Tunku may have done it, but it’s also important to remember that this happened during a different time, when such a thing might not have been so controversial. That, alongside the fact that Tunku was possibly the least ‘royal’ royal in his family, shunning his parents’ efforts to provide him with royal comforts:

“But he was appalled when his mother insisted that he should not walk to school, but be carried on the shoulders of a retainer. He considered this royal custom to be an indignity. He wanted to walk the short distance to the school.” – From “Tunku Abdul Rahman: Prince and Premier”, pg. 24

But like we said earlier, the question of a royal becoming Prime Minister is a very complex one, especially given the lack of a clear-cut law addressing it. It also raises an interesting conundrum, as pointed out by our lawyer friend:

“Can you relinquish (royal status), join politics, then leave politics and resume your royal positions?” – Edwin Tomas

So, our conclusion? We aren’t actually sure if it’s possible for a royal to become PM nowadays, but if it is, it would be very tedious and ultimately, unlikely. In any case, it’s also highly unlikely that a royal would want to give up their royal status for an arguably ‘lower’ position of PM, but then again, that’s probably one of the reasons why Tunku Abdul Rahman is widely remembered as a man of the people:

“He is probably the most approachable prince in all of Malaya. He holds no class distinction.” – From “Tunku Abdul Rahman: Prince and Premier”, pg. 20