COMMENT | Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim’s call for Johor to be treated as an equal partner of the federation is a wake-up call for a national agenda of decentralisation.

This agenda should be grounded on asymmetric federalism - that Sabah and Sarawak must have more powers than other states - and facilitated through a multilateral negotiation between the federal and all state governments.

The assertion to make Johor on par with Sabah and Sarawak ironically exposes the flaw of the “equal partnership” narrative that has been perfunctorily accepted by West Malaysian politicians in need of East Malaysian kingmakers.