Johor's call to Malaysia govt for 'equal partner' status belies economic ambition

The recent call by the Johor regent for the southern state to be treated as an equal partner to Malaysia's federal government belies its ambition to emerge as the most economically developed region in the country.

- Zunaira Saieed

Experts said the claim by Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim that Johor does not belong to Malaysia, and for more tax revenue to be returned to the state, has no basis in existing laws. But it signals that Johor aspires to gain greater legislative and financial autonomy to chart its future.

"Johor does not belong to Malaysia. We are partners, so you must start treating us like partners," Tunku Ismail said in a podcast on June 9.

"Johor provides about RM48 billion (S$13.8 billion) in tax revenue to the federal government, but only receives RM1.4 billion in return through the annual budget. How are we supposed to take care of our people? That's why we have bad roads and poor education and health facilities," he said.

Tunku Ismail, who is popularly known by the acronym TMJ or Tunku Mahkota Johor, is on the throne while his father Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar acts as the federal monarch until 2029.

Currently, the federal government returns less than 3 per cent of Johor's tax revenue back to the state through the annual budget.

The Johor state government announced on June 11 that it had proposed to the federal government that at least 30 per cent of its contributed tax revenue be returned.

Constitutional expert Shad Saleem Faruqi told The Straits Times that the regent's assertion is less about constitutional rights and more about his aspiration for Johor to gain greater legislative and financial autonomy to empower the state.

"Such fiscal empowerment for a state in Peninsular Malaysia will require constitutional amendments," said Dr Shad, who is Holder of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Chair at University of Malaya.

Johor's Trade Investment and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Lee Ting Han told ST that financial autonomy will allow the state government to transform Johor into a dynamic growth engine beyond Kuala Lumpur.