Not up to sultan to decide next Johor MB, says Dr Mahathir

Diyana Ibrahim Diyana Ibrahim Updated 5 years ago · Published on 10 Apr 2019 11:20AM · 6 Comments

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says Pakatan Harapan will name Osman Sapian’s replacement quickly. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Seth Akmal, April 10, 2019.

THE power to appoint a menteri besar lies in the hands of the ruling party, and not Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“This is a political matter. The sultan does not play a role. It is left to the party to choose who they need,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Dr Mahathir’s comments appeared to be in response to a tweet by Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim yesterday claiming that former Johor MB Osman Sapian was being replaced following orders from Sultan Ibrahim, who has absolute prerogative to appoint an MB.

However, Dr Mahathir clarified that Pakatan Harapan would decide on a candidate to replace Osman, who tendered his resignation yesterday.

The 93-year-old leader said the government does not have a lot of time to decide and will name Osman’s replacement soon.

Dr Mahathir also refused to confirm if the new menteri besar will be Bukit Kepong rep Dr Sahruddin Jamal from Bersatu.

“I do not know,” he said.

Dr Mahathir, who is also Bersatu chairman, announced Osman’s resignation yesterday. He gave no reasons for the resignation, only adding that the replacement must come from Bersatu.

State Health, Environment and Agriculture Committee chairman Sahruddin is tipped to be the favourite to replace Osman but other PH components, too, have submitted their candidates.

Tunku Ismail tweeted to say he hoped the new menteri besar would not be a “yes man” to Putrajaya, alluding to the reason Osman may have stepped down.

He reiterated that the appointment of the menteri besar was the absolute right of the Johor sultan, who is expected to return to Johor on Friday from an overseas trip. – April 10, 2019. 

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Comments

  • Unfortunately the present requirement is that Sultan must give consent to the proposed MB. Same thing as Kajang Move in SELANGOR then. Unless government can amend this requirement

    Posted 5 years ago by Derrick Tan · Reply

  • Make sense !! As royal family are apolitical .

    Posted 5 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply

  • Let's wait for a royal feedback

    Posted 5 years ago by Luke Skywalker · Reply

  • Nobody has his guts. Let's see.

    Posted 5 years ago by Concerned Citizen · Reply

  • That's what we know all along.

    Posted 5 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • Why are Malaysian so reticent about discussing whether hereditary monarchy is an anachronism in a democracy in this day and age; and in Malaysia, we are truly blessed with nine !!! The mind boggles !!!

    Posted 5 years ago by Yok Foo Yap · Reply