Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad would never have let a member of his cabinet be called "unfit" or "foolish", a former minister says.

However, things are different now because Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak 'buat dak sahaj a' (turns a deaf ear), said Zainuddin Maidin, who served as deputy information minister under Mahathir.

"If Mahathir was still prime minister, none of this would have happened," Zainuddin ( photo ) wrote in his blog today, referring to the feud between Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim and Tourism and Culture minister Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Tunku Ismail had, in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini , called Nazri an empty barrel .

"(Mahathir) would have never let his minister be called foolish or unfit, because this would be insulting his choice.

"(But) the current prime minister is more prone to avoiding controversies. He just " buat dak sahaja " and leaves it, hoping the situation will change." Zainuddin said.

Najib too had roped in the royalty

The former minister then defended the Johor prince, saying it was not wrong for him to enter the political arena as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak too had roped in the royalty in his fight against Mahathir.

"He (Najib) claimed the Sultan of Pahang supported him in his crisis with Mahathir. So was it wrong for the Johor prince to get involved in politics?" he asked.

Zainudin then quoted Tunku Ismail ( photo ) whose ceasefire message reminded politicians of their duty to serve the people.

"This means don't let things get to a point where the royalty have to play a role since the politicians' leadership is not convincing.

"Who knows, the Johor crown prince may think and decide to forego his claim to the throne to replace a weak leadership in the state or in the country," he added.