Muhyiddin apologised to Dr M during Bersatu meet, says source

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin apologised to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the party's emergency supreme council meeting on Monday night, according to a source.

Mahathir, who is also Bersatu chairperson, was purportedly incensed over the changes made to the Johor executive council lineup.

“Muhyiddin gave his version of the events that led to or contributed to the exco reshuffle, and he subsequently apologised,” said the source.

“The PM said nothing more of it but said he would be tough in applying the rule of law in particular reference to the Johor sultan which the supreme council fully endorsed,” he told Malaysiakini.

The Bersatu meeting was held on the same day that Solihan Badri, Tosrin Jarvanthi (both from Bersatu) and Tan Chen Choong (DAP) – were sworn in as exco members.

On April 13, Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar reportedly set a precondition that the exco lineup must be reshuffled when a new menteri besar replaced Osman Sapian, who resigned after 11 months at the helm.

The next day, Sahruddin Jamal was sworn in as menteri besar.

In a related development, Mahathir's media advisor A Kadir Jasin also mentioned that an apology was tendered, but did not provide details.

“An apology has been made and accepted. Let us move forward,” he said in a Facebook post.

The veteran newsman also said the “deep state”, which Mahathir claimed is attempting to sow discord between him and the rulers, must not be allowed to create divisions.

“Uphold the law and Federal Constitution. Do not choose between the people and rulers. Johor is like any other state, part of Malaysia,” he added.

The purported existence of a deep state was first raised by Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah after Malaysia withdrew from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Johor palace, particularly crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, was a vocal opponent of the Rome Statute.

Apart from this, Mahathir also locked horns with the palace on the choice of the menteri besar, arguing that if rulers decided on such matters, Malaysia would not be a democratic nation.

In a blog posting earlier, the prime minister said the state constitutions of Johor and Terengganu were nullified when the Federation of Malaya was formed.

He also said the ruling party of a state could reject a mentri besar candidate endorsed by the constitutional monarch through a vote of no-confidence. - Mkini