KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s Yang di-Pertuan Agong is a “constitutional monarch”, which means the ruler must exercise his powers — even when it involves clemency or granting mercy such as pardoning convicted persons — according to the Federal Constitution, the High Court has said.

This was why former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday failed in his court bid to serve his jail term at home, as the High Court found the former Agong’s house arrest order on Najib did not follow the procedures in the Federal Constitution.

In her 41-page written judgment released today, High Court judge Alice Loke Yee Ching made it clear that the Agong has to exercise his powers of mercy within the limits in the Federal Constitution.

“To reiterate, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is a constitutional monarch, and he exercises powers and functions in accordance to the provision of the Constitution.

“The exercise of the prerogative power of mercy is no exception. It must be exercised within the legal framework providing for safeguards and limits in the Constitution,” the judge said in her conclusion.