Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad dissed the Johor crown prince in China on Sunday, April 28, while attending the Belt and Road Initiative symposium.

Snarky

The Malay Mail reported that Mahathir made a snarky comment during the news conference in Beijing that was streamed live over Facebook to Malaysia.

Mahathir said prime ministers can only be changed by public vote in a democracy, but the crown prince can be changed by swapping them out.

He said: "We need to remember the past when a crown prince had to abdicate and the position was given to his younger brother. That’s the crown prince, a crown prince can be changed. Only the people can change the prime minister, not just anybody or someone who thinks he is big.”

First year in power

Pakatan Harapan’s first anniversary is coming up on May 9 and relations between Putrajaya and Johor have turned frosty.

But the 93-year-old prime minister from Kedah is having a second wind -- in terms of crossing paths with Johor royalty.

“He’s not big, he’s a small fry. If he thinks he’s big, go and vote and bring me down,” Mahathir sarcastically responded to a question regarding Tunku Ismail Idris' recent remarks.

What did Johor crown prince say?

This was likely in response to a recent video, where the crown prince of Johor Tunku Ismail was seen leaving the Tan Sri Dato’ Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium in Larkin, Johor.

His football club Johor Darul Ta’zim’s was defeated 0-1 by Shandong Luneng in the AFC Champions League on Wednesday, April 24 night.

Some of the fans chanted “Hidup TMJ” (which means "Long live TMJ", in reference to Tunku Ismail’s title), but one person shouted “Change Mora”, referring to the football team’s coach Benjamin Mora.

Tunku Ismail’s vehicle suddenly stopped.

The crown prince stuck his head out of the window and said: “Instead of changing Mora, it’s better to change the prime minister”.

Backlash

This prompted more words from Mahathir's corner.

In response to this video, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia supreme council member Mohd Rafiq Naizamohideen said the royalty should respect the people's choice in electing the current government, which had chosen Mohamad as prime minister.

PPBM is Mahathir's party.