Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar's move to hold "open days" with state officials on Wednesdays has raised questions about whether this is appropriate for a constitutional monarchy.

However, constitutional law expert Nizam Bashir Abdul Kariem Bashir argued that this can, in fact, be done because the Johor state constitution allows the sultan to have some role in the administration.

Nizam Bashir pointed out that Article 20 of the first part of the Laws and Constitution of Johor states that a former ruler may not have a voice in any affairs of the state.

"The inverse of that must surely be that His Majesty is perfectly entitled to have a voice in any affairs of the state of Johor.

"Consequently, there is no issue to His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim deigning to set aside Wednesday to meet Johor officials for the same reason," the lawyer told Malaysiakini yesterday...