Sultan of Selangor summons PAS' Hasan Ali

Hasan Ali leaves Istana Bukit Kayangan after being summoned there by the Sultan of Selangor. — Malaysia Insider picture by Jack Ooi

The Sultan of Selangor is not happy. There are plenty of reasons for his unhappiness. As the head of state, the Tuanku is responsible for religious affairs. He expects to be consulted on all issues relating to Islam. His consent is naturally necessary before new directives or new laws are proposed. That's lesson number one for Selangor PAS chief Hasan Mohamed Ali, who is also the state executive councillor in charge of religious affairs.

Hasan Ali was summoned to the palace at noon today. It was a longer than usual meeting. My sources tell me that Hasan was given a royal ticking off. But no one's issuing any statement on the meeting as a face-saving gesture. The Tuanku is said to be unhappy with Hasan's directive to appoint mosque officials to arrest Muslims drinking in public.

The order included arresting Muslims for selling or storing liquor, which would affect thousands of mostly Muslim workers in 7-Eleven outlets in Selangor. They could lose their jobs as the management would have to hire foreigners as cashiers instead. Obviously Hasan did not give much thought to his decision.

Hasan was tight-lipped when he left the palace at 2.25pm. The meeting lasted over two hours and since it is fasting time, no lunch was served, and it was entirely business. MB Khalid Ibrahim, however, confirmed that Hasan's directive was discussed, according to a Bernama story. However, it is unclear whether the Tuanku discussed the cow head protest in Shah Alam as well, which is said to include protestors who were members of Umno, PAS and PKR.