Veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin has joined the royal bill duel with his guns trained on Johor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

“Who should the people believe?” asked the newsman, who was considered among the most influential media figures during the era of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Kadir was referring to Johor Council of the Royal Court president Abdul Rahim Ramli’s ( right ) denial that the sultan was the architect behind the controversial Housing and Real Property Bill 2014.

The bill was passed by the Johor state assembly yesterday with amendments limiting the sultan’s role following criticisms regarding royal intervention into administrative matters.

So if the sultan is not behind the bill, Kadir said who else could have masterminded it if not the menteri besar himself.

"Definitely not the orang bunian (supernatural beings) from Seri Bunian, Pontian," he quipped in his latest blog posting, peppered with anecdotes and Malay pantun.

Citing a pantun which illustrates imbecility, Kadir also wondered if this was another incident of “politik ajaib” (magical politics) in the era of Najib.

The former News Straits Times group editor-in-chief questioned if this could be a case of where one behaves in the manner - “ask to pass (the bill), I pass” and “if the people hate me, I will remain oblivious to it.”

Adding his own twist to another Malay pantun, Kadir ( left ) wrote: “Siakap senohong gelama ikan duri. Cakap bohong lama-lama rakyat tak bagi undi.” (When you peddle lies for long, the people will not give you votes)

In another anecdote, the newsman, who some claim is part of a powerful axis led by Mahathir, said that under the 1Malaysia politics, when the “cat is castrated, the rat becomes the boss.”

Kadir’s blog posting have often been critical of the Najib administration but he has denied the existence of a high-level conspiracy against the premier.

As for the Johor bill, Mahathir was among its chief critics.