THE First Lady title in the context of Malaysia refers to the wife of the prime minister, the Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the salutation was an unofficial title based on convention and not based on any legal provision.
“This is an old convention in international politics. For instance, in the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth is not referred to as the First Lady because her title is Queen.
“The First Lady is the wife of the chief executive, namely the wife of the prime minister. The same goes in Japan,” he said.
There should not be any confusion in terms of the use of the title, Mohamed Nazri said in reply to Datuk Johari Abdul (PKR-Sungai Petani) about whether the title First Lady referred to the wife of the prime minister or the Raja Permaisuri Agong.
Mohamed Nazri also said that there was no specific allocation for the wife of the prime minister.
Replying to Johari’s supplementary question, Mohamed Nazri said there was no special unit for the First Lady at the Prime Minister’s Department.
He also said that the use of the First Lady title did not contravene Article 32 of the Federal Constitution which stated that the Raja Permaisuri Agong shall take precedence next after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. — Bernama