DESPITE THE ROYAL THUNDER & BLUSTER – JOHOR SULTAN WAS SWIFT TO ACT RESPONSIBLY, DOUSING FEARS OF A PROLONGED CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS IN ONE OF MALAYSIA’S RICHEST STATES

The curtain has finally come down on the choice of Johor menteri besar following the consent granted by the Sultan.

Dr Sahruddin Jamal is the new MB. Prior to that, he was the state executive councilor in charge of health, environment and agriculture.

In a ceremony at the Palace on Sunday morning, Sultan Ibrahim presented the appointment letter to Sahruddin, bringing to a conclusion a crisis that has raised the doubts among the public.

Over the past few days, due to the differences between prime minster Tun Mahathir Mohamad and the Sultan over the choice of menteri besar, people are worried that the incident could develop into something much worse, further tensing up the relationship between the federal government and the Johor Palace, given the fact the PM has previously had some unhappy incidents with the Johor royal family.

Fortunately Sultan Ibrahim immediately granted an audience to Datuk Osman Sapian and accepted his resignation before the state secretary issued a statement in the afternoon to announce the Sultan’s order for the appointment of the new menteri besar at 9.30 a,m, Sunday morning.

The mature approach in which the Johor royal family and the federal government were handling the appointment of the new MB is poised to further strengthen the country’s constitutional monarchy system.

After presenting the appointment letter to Sahruddin, Sultan Ismail advised the government in a statement not to waste time discussing things not beneficial, spreading accusations and coming up with stories just to attract or confuse the people.

His pointed out that the sovereignty of Johor, the purity of Islam and the privilege of the Malays should always be protected from being harassed by outsiders who hide behind human rights struggle.

He also said the Johor government has long been established, where it has its own culture and way of administrating itself.

“Those on the outside do not have to start talking about who has the power and how to administer the state,” he asserted.

It is good that the fracas over the appointment of the new MB could be resolved within such a short time. A constitutional crisis could ensue if the incident is allowed to drag on further.

MYSINCHEW