Dr Mahathir and the Johor royal family have had tense relations that go back decades, with the former's leadership put under the microscope recently by the Johor Crown Prince. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 — A Johor based political party that aims to ensure the state is ruled without the interference of the federal government is in the works, according to a news report.

Quoting sources, The Malaysian Insight reported that the party will be known as Parti Bangsa Johor and that the suggestion for the party came about following several meetings in the past two months involving politicians and civil society movements in the state.

“The discussions focused on why people no longer support the royals. From there the idea of the party came up...so it can be seen that people still support the Malay Rulers,” said one source present at the meetings.

The source said that interference from outsiders on state matters, including by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and the Johor palace’s actions and remarks being disputed on social media has raised concerns among Johoreans.

The source, however, admitted that the idea of a party solely for Johor would not have many takers, especially if it is formed just to oppose Dr Mahathir.

“Many do not agree as it is not rational to form a party only to fight Dr Mahathir, and will cause further disunity among the Malays,” the source told the local news portal.

Johor Umno Youth chief Mohd Hairi Mad Shah when contacted by the news portal said he is not aware of such an idea but he disagreed with it, adding that “the youths are all still with Umno”.

He said the unity between Umno and PAS has been accepted by members of the two parties in Johor.

“The youths are loyal to Umno. There is no need for a new party. Even in districts, we see our support increasing in our nightly ceramah,” he said.

Earlier this week, Johor prince Tunku Idris Iskandar indicated in an Instagram post that he may contest in the next general election, hinting that he would either contest in the Muar or Mersing parliamentary seats, both in Johor.

It is not clear if the 31-year-old prince was serious, but social media posts by the Johor royal family often capture attention as they often touch on government matters that other royals tend to keep away from.

Dr Mahathir and the Johor royal family have had tense relations that go back decades.

Dr Mahathir’s leadership was put under the microscope recently by Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Ibrahim in recent weeks ahead of Pakatan Harapan’s first anniversary.

On Sunday, Dr Mahathir said that only the people could remove him, after the Crown Prince was filmed saying in a video that the Prime Minister should be changed.

They also clashed last month over Putrajaya’s planned accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and over who had the final say in appointing Johor’s new Mentri Besar to head the state government.

The government later decided to withdraw from ratifying the Rome Statute following claims that acceding to the convention was unconstitutional.