Johor prince Tunku Idris Sultan Ibrahim may have raised eyebrows when he posted an agreement that purportedly allowed the state to secede from Malaysia.

But the posting appeared to contain historical inaccuracies, such as stating that Johor signed the Federation of Malaya Agreement in 1946, when the agreement was only inked in 1948.

Furthermore, the posting stated if several of Johor's conditions were not met in the 1946 agreement, it can secede from "Malaysia", which only came into existence 17 years later in 1963.

More interestingly, political analyst Wong Chin Huat pointed out the 1946 agreement actually referred to the Malayan Union agreement, which represented the royalty's failings that led to the birth of Umno.

"In 1946, there was no such thing as Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (Federation of Malaya), there was only Malayan Union which is the reason why Umno was born.

"The sultans had signed away their sovereignty which included their agreement to a liberal citizenship regime under pressure from the British.

"This made the Malays revolt. Feeling betrayed, they formed Umno (to oppose Malayan Union)," Wong told Malaysiakini .

Mahathir used it as a weapon

It is unclear where Tunku Idris, who is the Tunku Temenggong, obtained the text which he posted on Instagram but an online search found the exact text widely circulated in Johor-related sites.

The royalty's easy acceptance of the Malayan Union was also used by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to launch his attacks on the monarchs in his bid to strip them of their immunity in 1993.

"There are quarters of the opinion that Malay rulers are necessary to protect the Malays.

"The MacMichael and Malayan Union incident clearly proves that the only people who can protect the Malays are the Malays themselves.

"If they had not stood up to oppose Malayan Union, today Malays will be beggars in their own country," Mahathir had told Parliament, according to the Hansard.

Red herring to show discontent

Wong noted that Tunku Idris had mixed up historical facts and omitted Malayan Union in the Instagram posting.

"Because that (the Malayan Union) goes back to the question of whether the monarchs or the politicians can do a better job in defending Malay interest," he said.

However, Wong said posting the agreement on the supposed secession option, despite the inaccuracies, appeared to be an attempt to ride on Johor nationalism and position the royal family as looking out for the interest of Johor as opposed to Putrajaya.

However, he did not think that it was a genuine attempt at secession.

"Basically it's a red herring to show their displeasure and discontent towards Putrajaya," he said.

Sultan Ibrahim Ismail Iskandar, who is actively involved in Johor's development, had in recent years been highly critical of Putrajaya over policy disagreements.

Nonetheless, the Johor royal family's rhetorics, particularly on issues unpopular with Putrajaya, appeared to have garnered public support.

Wong noted that such posturing may likely embolden royal households in other states, adding that Malaysians would ultimately need to decide whether they supported a constitutional monarchy or an absolute monarchy.