Johor Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar has issued a retort to Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in an ongoing spat and power play over who should choose the next Chief Minister of Johor after Osman Sapian resigned.

The head of the Johor royal family, in quick response to Mahathir, is of the view that the prime minister is interfering in his state's affairs.

Mahathir had said earlier in the day that choosing a menteri besar, or chief minister, is a political decision by the party that won elections.

Royal Facebook post

A Facebook post on April 10 by the sultan said: “As for Johor, don’t meddle in the state’s affairs because this sovereign state still has a sultan.”

“I will make the best decision for my people when the time comes.”

The sultan said that he is following developments closely even though he is out of the country.

He wrote: "I want certain parties to stop making so much noise and quarrel about politics, and to focus on taking care of the country instead."

Mahathir responds

The sultan's remarks did not go down well with Mahathir.

The Malay Mail reported that Mahathir said: “I am of the opinion that if we assume that those who chose PMs and chief ministers were the monarchs, we will no longer be a democratic country anymore."

“This is because a party that was rightfully chosen by the people that has the power to appoint MBs have had their rights denied and thus undemocratic. We would be a country with an absolute monarchy,” he said during a press conference in parliament on the same day after the sultan's remarks were made.

Malaysia practises constitutional monarchy

According to Mahathir, Malaysia practises constitutional monarchy.

This means that it also applied to the state of Johor as it was part of the Federation governed by the Federal Constitution.

Mahathir said: “While Johor may have its own state constitution, they have agreed to be part of the country’s administrative system."

“During the formation of the Malaya Federation, we introduced constitutional laws to the country and have decided that states under the Federation followed the constitutional monarchy ruling system,” he said.

He then suggested a public discourse could be initiated.

This would determine if the people would accept the existing constitutional monarchy system or an absolute monarchy.

“If this (constitutional monarchy) is abolished, then we might as well not have a general election anymore,” he said.

What this power play is about: