JOHOR PRINCE CHALLENGES MAHATHIR WITH ARTICLES 71 & 181 OF FEDERAL CONSTITUTION – BUT IN MOST UNTYPICAL BEHAVIOR, DOES NOT ADD ANY COMMENT: PERHAPS HE HAS OMITTED OTHER ARTICLES THAT OVERRIDE THE ONES HE POSTED TO STATE HIS CASE?

JOHOR crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim tonight posted on his social media accounts two articles from the federal constitution relating to state constitutions and the rights of Malay rulers.

The articles were Article 71 on federal guarantee of state constitutions, and Article 181 on saving for rulers’ sovereignty.

Article 71 guarantees the right of a state ruler to succeed and hold, enjoy and exercise the constitutional rights and privileges due to him in accordance with the state constitution.

Article 181 states that subject to the provisions of the constitution, the sovereignty, prerogatives, powers and jurisdiction of the rulers and the ruling chiefs of Negri Sembilan within their respective territories shall remain unchanged. 

Tunku Ismail, an active social media user, said nothing when he posted the articles on his Twitter or Facebook pages.

But it is understood that his post tonight is in response to what Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said about the federal constitution superseding the state constitutions in his blog post.

In the blog post, Dr Mahathir mentioned that when the federal constitution had been written, Malaya was to be a democracy, where the people chose the government.

“The rulers would be constitutional heads without executive power. Their position would be guaranteed by the constitution which would be the supreme law of the country,” he said.

He added that the state constitutions of Johor and Terengganu, which were promulgated earlier, were nullified by the new federal constitution which was accepted by all the states of Malaysia.

He also pointed out that the constitution stated that the party winning the election would name the prime minister (or the chief minister – menteri besar) and the constitutional head would endorse.

The prime minister’s blog post was seen as a reminder to the Johor palace of the rule of law.

Dr Mahathir and the Johor palace are known to have a thorny relationship. Both sides had traded barbs over various issues, like the recent appointment of the Johor menteri besar, as well as in the reshuffling to the state exco.

Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and Tunku Ismail had both said that the state constitution gives the Johor monarch the power to decide on the menteri besar and the choice of exco members.

THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT