A JOHOR political party is in the works by “high-level” people as tension continues to simmer between Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the palace, sources said.

The proposed name for the party is Parti Bangsa Johor, sources said, adding that the suggestion for the party came about following several meetings in the past two months involving politicians and civil society movements in the state.

The idea behind the party is that the state be ruled by “Bangsa Johor” without the interference of outsiders, including Putrajaya, they said.

“In the meetings, the discussions centred on why the people were no longer supporting the royals. It is from there the idea for the party came up so that it can be seen that the people still support the Malay rulers.

“Many actions and remarks from the Johor palace have been disputed in social media. On top of that, the interference of ‘outsiders’ like Dr Mahathir has also caused concern among some Johoreans.

“Johor must be administered by Johoreans,” said a source who was present at the meetings.

The source, however, admitted that the idea of a party solely for Johor would not have many takers, especially if it is formed just to oppose Dr Mahathir.

“It is only a suggestion but many do not agree with it as it is not rational to form a party only to fight Dr Mahathir.

“And it will cause further disunity among the Malays.”

Johor Umno Youth chief Mohd Hairi Mad Shah is not aware of such an idea but he disagreed with it as “the youths are all still with Umno”.

He said the unity between Umno and PAS has been accepted by members of the two parties in Johor.

“The youths are loyal to Umno. There is no need for a new party. Even in districts, we see our support increasing in our nightly ceramah,” he said.

Earlier this week, Johor prince Tunku Idris Iskandar indicated in an Instagram post that he may contest in the next general election, hinting that he would either contest in the Muar or Mersing parliamentary seats, both in Johor.

There is no indication that the 31-year-old prince was serious, but social media posts by the Johor royal family often capture attention as they often touch on government matters that other royals tend to keep away from.

Since coming into power last May, Pakatan Harapan has seen several flashpoints with the Malay rulers, especially between Dr Mahathir and the Johor palace.

Last month, the Johor palace slammed Putrajaya for its decision to ratify the Rome Statute, saying that it was unconstitutional and affected the roles of the Malay rulers.

On April 5, Dr Mahathir announced Putrajaya’s withdrawal from ratifying the Rome Statute in a specially arranged press conference and blamed people with vested interests for it.

More recently, ties between Putrajaya and the palace once again came under scrutiny over the replacement of the menteri besar and the reshuffle in the state exco line-up.

While Dr Mahathir was agreeable to changing the menteri besar, he wanted to maintain the exco line-up, a move which the sultan opposed.

However, the new menteri besar, Dr Sahruddin Jamal, also from Dr Mahathir’s Bersatu party, reshuffled the exco line-up as soon as he took office as part of an agreement between Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin – a veteran Johor politician – and the palace. – May 4, 2019.