Damage to Umno, palace has been done, analysts say of Johor housing bill controversy
Jennifer Gomez, The Malaysian Insider
Regardless of the amendments to the Johor housing enactment passed by the state assembly on Monday removing the sultan’s power in state administrative matters, political analysts said the controversy has dented the reputation of both the palace and Umno, which leads the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
The analysts said the issue has also exposed the fragility of Malaysia’s system of constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy.
Centre for Policy Initiatives director Dr Lim Teck Ghee said the emphatic denial by the Johor Royal Council that the Sultan of Johor was behind the tabling of the bill points the finger at Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin.
“If the MB fails to deny it, it will lead to concerns that important political figures from Umno are also involved in the tabling of the bill.
“Whatever the truth, the damage has been done as the public is now aware that there is fierce infighting behind the scenes to control or manipulate the property market, and that this is done not in the public interest but for various vested interests,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Lim said that despite the changes to the enactment which either limited or removed the sultan’s power in the proposed housing board, it is left to be seen whether it would effectively limit the sultan’s involvement in the administration of the state where land matters are concerned.
“Although there is an improvement over the initial bill that was proposed, hidden hands can and will try to influence or manipulate the workings of the new body.
“It is said that politics and economics are intertwined, nowhere is this more evident than in the hugely lucrative land and property market and of course, the royalty are not insignificant players in this tussle,” he added.
Political analyst Dr Oh Ei Sun from Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said that the saga has called into question the concept and practice of constitutional versus absolute monarchy in Malaysia.
“The fragility and frustration of our system of parliamentary democracy is suddenly highlighted.
“As long as the people do not resolutely expunge feudalistic mentality from their own mind and the business incentives continue to thrive, then it is difficult to realistically uphold the nominal constitutional democracy,” Oh said.
Lim agreed, adding that the proposed bill in its initial form providing the sultan with unprecedented authority would have made a mockery of the concept of constitutional monarchy.
Oh suggested that in order to avoid conflict in business and royal duties, laws be passed so that rulers and members of royal households are barred from engaging in business activities.
“Currently there is no law prohibiting this and all it takes is to pass a law in Parliament with a majority.
“But there is no guarantee that this would effectively work as a safeguard,” he added.
Professor James Chin of Monash University Malaysia, however, pointed out that passing a law to bar the royalty from getting involved in business was not possible as attempts to do so in several European countries had failed.
“They will just use proxies if you pass the law,” Chin added.
The analysts also agreed with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that the Johor menteri besar is, in any case, beholden to the sultan, and noted that this was prevalent in many other states in the country.
Lim said that the menteris besar in Malaysia have always been beholden to the sultan, and the question was to what extent a menteri besar was willing to accommodate the demands or requests from the royalty and vice versa.
“As the saying goes, it takes two to tango and I am sure each side has attempted to extract maximum benefit for themselves and will continue doing so,” he added.
Oh, meanwhile, said that it was a known unspoken political arrangement in the case of Johor.
“This has often been the unspoken political arrangement in Johor, unless the MB is a particularly strong-willed one, in which case the state administration risks paralysis,” Oh said.
The Malay rulers have always had a say in their states, Chin pointed out.
“Not only in Johor, but the sultans in other states also have influence over their menteri besar,” he said.
