Selangor Royal Council confirms Mahathir has returned royal awards

PETALING JAYA: The Selangor Royal Council has confirmed that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has returned his state royal awards.
The former prime minister was reported to have returned two awards he had received from the sultan of Selangor, including the highest order awarded by the state, on Thursday.
In a statement issued by the Selangor palace today, the cancellation of the awards will be gazetted according to due procedure.
"It is informed that His Royal Highness Sultan Selangor has consented to the return of medals of honours and titles by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Dr Siti Hasmah without any objection," the statement read.
Mahathir, who is the PPBM chairman, was the recipient of two medals of honour from the then Selangor Sultan in 1978 and 2003. One of them was the Darjah Kebesaran Seri Paduka Mahkota Selangor (SPMS) (First Class).
The move was believed to be related to the palace's outrage over his remarks on the Bugis community.
Mahathir's wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali had also reportedly followed suit and returned her state awards to Selangor.