JOHOR Menteri Besar Osman Sapian has resigned, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“He resigned last night,” the prime minister told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

Dr Mahathir said there are three to four candidates who will be presented to the Johor palace.

Osman yesterday met Dr Mahathir at the prime minister’s office, sparking speculation that he could be on his way out, less than a year after taking office.

Earlier today the Johor Crown Prince had said the Johor Sultan had decreed that Osman be replaced as menteri besar months ago.

Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim today said in a series of tweets that though his father had ordered the change, other people were “taking credit and getting mileage” for it.

“Tuanku (Sultan Ibrahim) had looked into changing the menteri besar for months now.

“Don’t forget that the absolute power to choose the menteri besar lies with the sultan. Enough politicking.”

“He resigned last night through a letter he handed to me. He will also hand in a (resignation) letter to the Sultan of Johor.

“As to who his replacement will be, we have yet to decide. But according to the Pakatan Harapan agreement, the menteri besar has to be from Bersatu.”

When asked why Osman resigned, Dr Mahathir said, “We are not going to say yet.

“There is a reason given. He has stepped down and we accept.”

The prime minister added that an acting menteri besar will be appointed.

“At the moment, Johor has no menteri besar. We will appoint an acting MB. The Sultan of Johor is said to not be in the country but the effective date (of Osman’s resignation) is yesterday.”

Osman resigned three months after Dr Mahathir had an audience with Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar on January 10.  

Osman has recently been under fire over his handling of the Sg Kim Kim pollution crisis that saw 111 schools shut down.

The Kempas assemblyman also raised eyebrows for going ahead with a working day trip to Indonesia’s Batam island during the crisis.

He later said he had cut short the visit and was in touch with officials handling the crisis.

In January, Osman had caused a diplomatic incident when he boarded a Malaysian government boat that was in waters claimed by Singapore.

The visit, which he posted on his social media platforms, came a day before foreign ministers of both countries were due to meet for talks over disputed maritime boundaries.

Singapore then cancelled those talks, saying Osman’s visit made the meeting untenable. – April 9, 2019