If the tussle between the Johor crown prince and Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz can be analysed  from the vantage point of a football match, then Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has scored a much anticipated goal.

 

The prince was accused of "meddling" in politics, but his remark was a poignant yellow card for politicians that it is paramount for them to have the trust and confidence of the people.

 

It is both embarrassing and saddening that the government needs to be schooled on the most basic principles of accountability.

 

And, as some have argued, the prince - who is also the president of the Johor football association - merely expressed his view and had the right to do so.

 

Debates on whether his statement sets a bad precedent or otherwise have been raging, but what cannot be denied is the overwhelming support the prince received for making a stand.  

 

Tunku Ismail's initial Facebook posting on the ' Nothing to Hide ' dialogue session and subsequent replies, including the video without words, to Nazri have gone viral, with most lauding the prince.

 

Perhaps the reason for this is because Malaysians have grown tired, as described by Tunku Ismail, of ministers who consider themselves divine incarnations and their royal cheerleaders.

 

After having been in power for more than five decades, BN is no longer a political coalition but functions like a dynasty as well as the personal fiefdom of its members.

 

In other words, these ministers portray themselves as more royal than the royals themselves and act as if they are above the law.

 

The ministers are similar to the deplorable state of Malaysian football and those who run the association - dull, unimaginative, complacent, resistant to change and arrogant.

 

So under these circumstances, the Johor crown prince's out of the blue and beautifully struck goal came as a pleasant surprise.

 

This is not the Wild West

 

Nazri and like-minded politicians, on the other hand, must stop deluding themselves that being crass and crude are admirable traits.

 

This is not the first time that the minister shot his mouth off, but perhaps in this case, he tackled the wrong person.  

  

As a senior minister, using terms like "whack", albeit in the verbal sense, speaks volumes of Nazri's ( photo ) political grooming and the administration he serves.

 

Like the prince, Nazri too has the right to defend his boss, but one would expect him to do so in a civil manner and observe a sense of decorum.

 

This is not the Wild West nor the Cosa Nostra. Nazri has often confused American football with the variant that is played elsewhere.

 

On that note, it is also interesting that the police have chosen to investigate Nazri under the Penal Code instead of the Sedition Act.

 

It begs the question if the same rule would have applied if an opposition politician had threatened to "whack" a prince, say for criticising Anwar Ibrahim.

 

Would the police chief have tweeted his instruction, which would in turn see a team of officers ambushing the culprit, seizing his or her laptop and mobile phone, hauling the person off to the police station and producing him or her in court, handcuffed, dressed in the customary lock-up outfit and barefooted?

 

In their angst, some Johoreans even posted on Facebook that they would not think twice about the state leaving the Federation of Malaysia and cautioned ministers against disparaging their prince.

 

So would the Sedition Act also be slapped against those making the secession calls?

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