PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be meeting Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar on Thursday, Free Malaysia Today reported, quoting sources.

They told the portal that the prime minister and his wife Dr Siti Hasmah would be having their first courtesy visit to the sultan at Istana Bukit Serene in Johor Baru since Pakatan Harapan took over Putrajaya following the May 9 polls last year.

One source was quoted as saying that “the sultan had requested for a meeting with Dr Mahathir for some time now” but could not tell what was the meeting’s agenda.

The visit comes on the heels of the abdication of Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Sunday.

The Conference of Rulers will be electing the next king, a position rotated every five years among the nine Malay rulers, and the deputy king on January 24.

The Johor sultan is the second in line in the fixed line-up of succession, after Pahang ruler Sultan Ahmad Shah, who is widely known to be in poor health.

Sultan Ahmad Shah’s son Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah is only ruling as regent, and has not assumed the Pahang throne to be eligible.

The monarch next in line is Sultan Ibrahim, followed by Perak’s Sultan Nazrin Shah, who most recently acted as deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and acting king when Sultan Muhammad V was on medical leave.

It is widely known that Dr Mahathir has had a thorny relationship with the Johor royal house.

Even before returning to power, Dr Mahathir had been very critical of the multibillion ringgit Forest City project – a joint venture between a company controlled by the Johor sultan and the Chinese company Country Garden.

Just last month, he and Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim traded barbs after the latter told off “outsiders” not to comment on Johor matters following the conversion of the Pulau Kukup mangrove island to sultanate land controlled by the royal house.

The conversion, made quietly by the Johor government, had raised eyebrows.

Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Xavier Jayakumar said in a statement that the island should remain managed by the state government, earning him a rebuke by the outspoken Tunku Ismail.

Dr Mahathir responded by telling the prince: “Malaysians are not outsiders. The federal government is not an outsider. We are responsible for all things in the country.”

Tunku Ismail then wrote on Twitter: “Who is developing Pulau Kukup?? Dah terangkan (I explained) 4 times… Nyanyuk! (Senile!)”. The post, understood to be directed at the 93-year-old prime minister, has since been deleted. – January 8, 2019.