AHEAD OF BERSIH 4, JOHOR SULTAN TELLS NAJIB & ZAHID: BE HONEST, PAPER CANNOT WRAP FIRE

KUALA LUMPUR - Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor has issued a warning to politicians, zooming in on Umno Kempas assemblyman Tengku Putra Haron Aminulrashid and federal Cabinet minister Nazri Abdul Aziz.

In a speech made after Friday prayers (see excerpts below), the Sultan reminded politicians not to intervene in the affairs of the Johor Palace or to make statements linked to the Palace.

Sultan Ibrahim ticked off Tengku Putra Haron and Nazri for "totally rude" and "arrogant" behavior when addressing his son, the Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail.

The Sultan's message comes a day ahead of the much-awaited Bersih 4 rally, where hundreds of thousands of Malaysians are expected to protest against Prime Minister Najib Razak's handling of the country and his own corruption case.

Never before in recent history has Malaysia been plunged into such prolonged political crisis, dragging its current, the Ringgit, to 17-year-lows with many economists concerned that worse was yet to come.

While professing he had no intention to interfere in politics, the Sultan's comments were seen by some observers as a slap for both Najib and his newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi.

"The government must be transparent and honest with the people, as in this modern day and age, nothing could be hidden. As a Chinese proverb puts it, 'a sack cannot conceal a hammer, paper cannot envelope a flame," the Sultan said.

'Chinese card' Tengku Putra

Tengku Putra Haron had tried to mitigate Zahid's embarrassment after the DPM drew public fire from the Crown Prince following an audience with the Sultan. Zahid had tried to make political capital of the royal meeting, telling reporters the Sultan had said he trusted only Umno to unite the Malays.

But Tunku Ismail refuted this in a posting on Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page, telling Zahid in no uncertain terms not to try to influence his father for 'personal interests'.

Although the Prince did not mention any names, it was clear who he meant and it drew a noticeably rude response from Tengku Putra Haron.

The Kempas assemblyman suggested in a blog posting that Tunku Ismail's warning should also be extended to Chinese businessmen "with the intent of 'printing money' in fast track motion in this robust and fast developing economy of the great state of Johor, who do not observe the sensitivities and the wellbeing of the rakyat, namely the Malays".

The Kempas rep's comments were criticized by some political observers as being 'typical of Umno' in playing the racial card to rally Malay support behind its leaders versus the Palace.

'Whack you' Nazri

Strained ties between Najib and the Johor Palace especially after Najib's recent sacking of Muhyiddin Yassin as the DPM after the latter questioned his handling of the 1MDB debacle. Muhyiddin who hails from Johor is the Pagoh MP and Umno deputy president.

As for Nazri, widely regarded as one of Najib's loyal spokesmen, he had embroiled himself in a verbal tussle with Tunku Ismail after the latter jibed at Najib for failing to show up at the tell-all 'Nothing2Hide' forum on the 1MDB corruption debacle.

“I think he should keep out of politics, otherwise he may be subjected to the same rule. We will whack him,” Nazri was quoted by news portal Malaysiakini telling a news conference in Universiti Malaya.

BELOW ARE EXCERPTS FROM H.M. SULTAN IBRAHIM IBNI ALMARHUM SULTAN ISKANDAR, THE SULTAN OF JOHOR'S SPEECH DURING THE OFFICIATING OF MASJID TUNKU LAKSAMANA ABDUL JALIL, JOHOR POLICE CONTINGENT HEADQUARTERS TAKEN FROM THE JOHOR SOUTHERN TIGERS FACEBOOK PAGE

1. AS I HAVE STRESSED BEFORE, I WILL NEVER INTERFERE WITH AFFAIRS OF ANY POLITICAL PARTY. THOUGH MANY POLITICAL LEADERS HAVE COME TO HAVE AN AUDIENCE WITH ME, I ONLY LISTEN TO THEM AND WILL NOT TAKE SIDES WITH ANY PARTIES OR INDIVIDUALS.

2. MY PRIORITY IS THE WELFARE OF MY SUBJECTS AND THAT THE PROSPERITY OF JOHOR MUST BE MAINTAINED THROUGH THE UNITY AND TOGETHERNESS OF BANGSA JOHOR.

3. AS SUCH, MY ADVICE TO POLITICIANS, AMONG THEM WHICH IS KEMPAS STATE ASSEMBLYMAN, NOT TO MEDDLE IN THE AFFAIRS OF ISTANA JOHOR OR TRY TO MAKE STATEMENTS THAT IMPLICATE THE PALACE.

4. THERE ARE ALSO LEADERS IN THE GOVERNMENT WHO ARE TOTALLY RUDE WHEN SPEAKING UP, BY LABELLING OTHERS AS CRAZY, AND EVEN WORSE, BEING SO ARROGANT AS WANTING TO "WHACK" MY SON. ARE THESE THE KIND OF LEADERS THAT ARE TO BE RESPECTED? REMEMBER THAT ONE'S WORDS CAN LEAD TO THEIR DOWNFALL.

5. I WILL CONTINUE TO ENSURE THAT THE WELFARE OF MY SUBJECTS ARE ALWAYS TAKEN CARE OF. THE GOVERNMENT MUST BE TRANSPARENT AND HONEST WITH THE PEOPLE, AS IN THIS MODERN DAY AND AGE, NOTHING COULD BE HIDDEN. AS A CHINESE PROVERB PUTS IT, "A SACK CANNOT CONCEAL A HAMMER, PAPER CANNOT ENVELOPE A FLAME".

6. LET US PRAY TO ALLAH, MAY JOHOR REMAIN PROSPEROUS AND PEACEFUL, AND MAY HER PEOPLE BE GIVEN THE BLESSING AND STRENGTH TO WEATHER ANY CHALLENGES WITH UNITY AND CONCORD.

H.M. SULTAN IBRAHIM IBNI ALMARHUM SULTAN ISKANDAR, THE SULTAN OF JOHOR.