Johor Sultan tells Dr M: You’ve created many problems, so shut up

KUALA LUMPUR — Johor Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar has asked former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to keep his nose out of matters related to the southern state including the “Bangsa Johor” (Johorean) concept used to rally its people. 

Dr Mahathir’s antagonism towards world leaders had put Malaysia “in a spot” in the past, the Sultan was reported by The Star as saying on Thursday (Aug 25) in a scathing response to the former prime minister’s remarks on Wednesday. Dr Mahathir said such notions promoting affinity to individuals states over the country will divide Malaysians.

“He has quarrelled with many world leaders, including with our neighbour Singapore, and put Malaysia in a spot,” said the Sultan. “And now he talks about unity with an incredible straight face. Tun 
Mahathir is the root cause of the present problems in the country. He has no right to interfere in my state. I will not tolerate his antics.” 

Among thorny issues that involved Dr Mahathir and Singapore were the water conflicts between the two countries, where Malaysia had publicly threatened to cut off the water supply whenever bilateral differences arose, even though the guarantee of water supply was part of the 1965 Separation Agreement.

The Sultan also remarked that Dr Mahathir is now making trouble and advised him to “keep his mouth shut”, adding that the former Premier should understand that all states in the country enjoyed their own unique pride and that did not mean leaving the federation. 

Sultan Ibrahim posted a two-minute video of his interaction with Johoreans in Muar on his official Facebook on Thursday morning hoping to drive home his point. The video was titled: “Sultan of Johor : Bersama Bangsa Johor, Muar, 23 Ogos 2016” (Sultan of Johor: Together with Johoreans in Muar, 23 August 2016). In the few hours after it was uploaded, it had drawn more than 2,000 likes.

Sultan Ibrahim was also quoted as saying that Dr Mahathir was not qualified to talk about unity. “He is going around dividing the people including the Malays, while I am uniting Malaysians of all races including the Malays,” he said.

Dr Mahathir is heading a United Malays National Organisation (Umno) splinter party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) that is seeking to unseat the ruling Malay nationalist party at the next general election.

The Sultan added that the “Bangsa Johor” concept was initiated by his great-grandfather and namesake Sultan Sir Ibrahim Al-Masyhur Abu Bakar in 1920 as a clarion call to unite the diverse races in the state under one flag.

“No race or individual was marginalised,” the Johor ruler was quoted as saying and castigated Dr Mahathir for his ignorance of history.

Dr Mahathir said at a forum on Wednesday that the “Bangsa Johor” concept could encourage “unhealthy” feelings of superiority by the residents of one state and over another. He also said unity among Malaysians could slide if the people practised too much parochialism.

The former prime minister had introduced and promoted the “Bangsa Malaysia” policy during his 22-year tenure in office that ended in 2003 and pointed out that Johor owed some of its current prosperity and development to its position in the Federation of Malaysia. Dr Mahathir also commented that Johor’s departure from the federation would be detrimental to the state and the country as both shared a symbiotic relationship with each other, in response to past suggestions from Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Ibrahim that his state has the right to secede from Malaysia if there is a breach of the terms agreed upon at the time of its membership to the Federation of Malaysia. AGENCIES