JOHOR Menteri Besar Osman Sapian avoided reporters today after a three-hour meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today, amid speculation that he will be replaced as head of the state government.

He gave reporters and photographers waiting for him the slip, leaving the Prime MInister’s Office building through a different exit.

Osman had arrived at 3pm earlier in a black MPV.

His press secretary Abdul Hakim Ab Rahman did not respond to messages about the meeting.

Hakim earlier today said that the meeting between Dr Mahathir and Osman was a scheduled one and said the media should not listen to rumours that the Kempas assemblyman will be replaced as menteri besar.

If Osman is replaced, the likely candidate for the state’s top job is Bukit Kepong assemblyman Sahruddin Jamal, who is also from Bersatu.

The Malaysian Insight learnt that the matter was discussed when Dr Mahathir had an audience with Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar in January.

The ruler is currently overseas, and will return only by the end of next week.

The menteri besar has been in the limelight for the wrong reasons.

Recently, he was criticised for his handling of the toxic waste pollution in Sg Kim Kim, Pasir Gudang. Osman went ahead with a day trip to Indonesia’s Batam Island during the crisis, despite cutting short the working visit’s schedule.

In January, he boarded a boat while on a work trip to observe maritime security and was accused of trespassing into Singapore waters. This came at the height of diplomatic tensions between Malaysia and the republic over sea boundaries.

Johor has been embroiled in several controversies with Putrajaya, such as the state’s move to change internationally recognised wetland Pulau Kukup’s status from national park to sultanate land, and the state royalty’s opposition to the federal government’s decision to sign the Rome Statute. – April 8, 2019.