The Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, criticised the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition government in a Facebook post on March 17.

Sabotaging each other

In his post, he claimed that the PH were "sabotaging" each other instead of working together to fulfil the election promises and improve the economy.

He even mentioned the much-discussed "flying car", which was supposed to be unveiled later this year.

Focus on the economy

The Crown Prince said the government's priority should be solving the "bread and butter" issues faced by the people in the current economic situation.

He added that the two most pressing issues were:

• Cost of living.
• Quality of life.

The Crown Prince added:

"Pay attention on improving the economy, not just talking about it. Especially on how to create more jobs for Malaysians. I am disturbed by the current situation in the country and we need to come together as a nation to fix it.

We have to prioritise the people."

Troubles in Johor

The Crown Prince did not refer to any specific event or grievance, but the state of Johor has been grappling with a major environmental disaster, following the dumping of illegal chemicals into Sungai Kim Kim.

His father, the Sultan of Johor, earlier pledged financial aid to help the victims and urged the authorities to prosecute those responsible.

Not first time speaking up against PH

This is not the first time that the Crown Prince has spoken up against the PH coalition.

Prior to the 2018 general election, which saw Mahathir Mohamad come to power as Prime Minister, the Crown Prince shared a Facebook post in which he urged the voters not to bring down the then-Barisan Nasional government.

Back then, he obliquely referred to a "forked-tongue individual".

Bilateral issues

It's also possible that the Crown Prince might have the bilateral issues between Singapore and Malaysia on his mind.

Although the disputes involve the Singapore government and Malaysia federal government, it also deals with issues specific to Johor, such as the Johor Bahru port limits and the so-called "restrictions" that Seletar Airport's Instrument Landing Systems would allegedly place on development in Pasir Gudang.

Till next time the Crown Prince speaks up again on social media.

Back ground on royal family and Mahathir

The Johor royal family and Mahathir have historically not seen eye to eye.

In the 1990s, Mahathir launched a public campaign to curb the excesses of royalty and remove the sultans’ immunity from criminal prosecution after two assault cases involving the Johor royal family then.

And as recent as January 2017, Mahathir said before he was re-elected that he was willing to stand trial for lèse-majesté for criticising the increase in Chinese building projects in the southern Johor state.

The projects are backed by Johor’s ruler, Sultan Ibrahim Ismail.

You can see the Facebook post below: