KUALA LUMPUR: Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali said on Thursday, March 18, the Malay nationalist group's inaugural AGM would not be affected by the Sultan of Selangor's decision to not officiate the meeting.

Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah on Thursday announced a change of heart and would not be attending Perkasa's national gathering scheduled for March 27 here.

Bernama cited the Sultan's private secretary Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani as saying the Sultan felt that his presence would be misinterpreted to mean that he supported Ibrahim, the independent MP for Pasir Mas, who headed the right-wing non-governmental organisation.

Munir said the palace had written a letter dated March 12 informing Perkasa of the Sultan's decision.

He also said it must not be misconstrued that Ibrahim had used the Sultan's name in sending out the invitations because the ruler had agreed to open the meeting earlier, after several Perkasa committee members led by Ibrahim had an audience with him on Feb 25.

Munir said the Sultan hoped that the Perkasa meeting would proceed smoothly and the organisation grow into an entity of integrity and carry on its agenda to safeguard the sovereignty of the institution of rulers, Malay and bumiputera rights, and the sanctity of Islam as the country's official religion.

At a press conference in parliament, Ibrahim said the Sultan had withdrawn his consent to officiate Perkasa's AGM "on certain grounds" but Ibrahim declined to comment further.

"However, it will not affect the preparation and planning to have the AGM. This AGM will also debate many current issues related to the interests of Malays and bumiputera and matters relating to Article 153 of the Federal Constitution," he said.

Ibrahim said Perkasa's AGM would be attended by over 10,000 delegates and observers, casting that as a "sign of raising unity among the Malays".

He also said he had appointed lawyers to take legal action against English daily theSun, over an article on March 16, which quoted unnamed sources saying that Sultan Sharafuddin was concerned over Perkasa's image as a "chauvinist group" and had advised Ibrahim to be less "ultra".

"I have had an audience with the Sultan twice and I was warmly welcomed, he was cheerful and he never once mentioned that I'm an ultra-Malay or chauvinist. In fact, he said he appreciates Perkasa's struggles.

"theSun's actions will only encourage Malays and bumiputera to be united and stronger," Ibrahim said, adding that he would first seek a satisfactory apology from the free newspaper, failing which he would follow up with a defamation suit.

"I'm not a racist. I consider myself a nationalist patriotic, based on being a good Muslim," Ibrahim said, insisting that he was speaking about Malay and bumiputera rights based on the constitutional framework.

Ibrahim also lamented that there were certain statements that had been misinterpreted or wrongly written to create the impression that Perkasa was against certain quarters, while denying that he had been anti-Chinese or anti-Indian.