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Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, accused the Malaysian federal government of “sidelining” the state as he opened the first session of the 15th Johor State Legislative Assembly.

Federal government's 'unfulfilled promises'

Sultan Ibrahim listed a "litany of unfulfilled promises” that the federal government of Malaysia has supposedly left outstanding.

According to a copy of his remarks shared on his official Facebook page, the Sultan specifically cited the need to properly maintain federal government facilities and services, such as the Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Hospital Sultan Ismail, and the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex.

The Sultan also derided the state of federal roads.

He said that promises had been made to expand the Senai-Desaru highway to four lanes and North-South Expressway in Johor to six lanes from its current four, but they had not been kept.

He also said that the Johor Bahru-Mersing route, a federal road, was in a dangerous condition due to potholes.

Treated like "stepchild"

The Sultan compared Johor’s treatment by the federal government to that of a “stepchild”, despite its contributions to the national economy.

In 2021, The Malaysian Reserve reported that despite the effects of Covid-19, Johor remained one of the six largest contributors to the national GDP by state.

The Sultan warned that if the federal government continued in this manner, Johoreans may call for secession.

"If this trend continues, Johoreans may agitate towards secession from Malaysia. Perhaps Johor can be more developed if we stand on our own," he said.

Pedra Branca issue

The Sultan also had some barbs for the federal government over the Pedra Branca issue with Singapore.

He claimed that the Malaysian government's decision to unilaterally drop the "Batu Puteh" case (i.e. Pedra Branca) at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2018 was a sign of a "lackadaisical attitude" towards Johor's sovereignty.

Back in 2018, then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the ruling Pakatan Harapan government withdrew its bid to challenge the ICJ's 2008 decision.

In a statement then, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said:

"We were confident of our case, and the correctness of the original ICJ decision.

When Malaysia requested to discontinue the cases, without them being argued, we were happy to agree.

Both Malaysia and Singapore had gone through the due legal process and put this matter to rest."

Secession?

In reference to the Pedra Branca decision, Sultan Ibrahim said, "The Federal Government did not consult Johor on this decision, even though this involves Johor sovereignty."

The statement added that this represented a "clear breach of Johor’s rights as enshrined in the Federation Agreement."

It went on to say that if any of the terms related to Johor’s rights under the Federation of Malaya Agreement signed in 1948 and 1957 were breached, the state had the "right to secede".

This is a point debated as recently as 2015, when the Sultan's second son Tunku Idris Iskandar made an Instagram post seemingly alluding to these rights. The post is no longer available on his profile.

An article from Oct. 2015 by Today explains more, saying that since the initial agreement that Johor signed with the British that appears to allow secession, several newer agreements have been made. This leaves the right of Johor to leave Malaysia in doubt.

However, Singapore's exit from Malaysia in 1965 "stands as a curious counterpoint to the idea that the Federation of Malaysia is indissoluble".

The Sultan also appointed his son and heir, Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Idris as regent and said he would "take a break" from royal duties.

You can see the statement by Sultan Ibrahim below:

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Top image from Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar Facebook