SHAH ALAM, March 18 (Bernama) -- The Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, has changed his mind about opening the inaugural general meeting of the Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) scheduled for March 27 in Kuala Lumpur in a move to avert manipulation of the matter by irresponsible people.

The sultan's private secretary, Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani, said today the sultan felt that his presence would be misinterpreted to mean that the ruler supported politician Datuk Ibrahim Ali, the independent Member of Parliament for Pasir Mas, who headed the right-wing non-governmental organisation.

A letter dated March 12 on the sultan's decision and reason had been sent to the Perkasa office, he said.

He also said that 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 had an audience with him on Feb 25.

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