The revival of a past glory: A monarchical strongman in Malaysia

Johor polity is rather unique in Malay peninsula compared to other Malay states. Located adjacent to Singapore, the importance of geographical proximity experienced by Johor during colonial period staged Johor polity in an alternative episode of modernised history. This paper attempts to examine the contemporary Sultan of Johor in Malaysia regarding the situation of “midlevelization” (Hutchcroft, 2001), where power inclines to concentrate on the state strongman. The concentration of power on strongman has grown in the recent transfer of political power and resources from the federal to the state governments in Malaysia. This study aims at investigating how a monarchical strongman at the middle level government attempts to control over the state affairs through strategic manoeuvre skillfully in the state’s administrative domain. The study examines the state politics and business and the monarchical strongman’s influence over the local governance through top-ranked bureaucrats. There is potential risk for a strongman to possess certain degree of room for manoeuvre, particularly fostering patron-client business clusters and political influence. The case of Johor displays several components underlying within the structural mechanisms with possibilities for a constitutional monarch to initiate the formation of midlevelisation of government. The components include: 1) a traditional institution with its historical convention, 2) considerable royal powers grounded in State Constitution, 3) strong and loyal administrative bureaucracy as monarchical supporting organisations; all these components help strengthen and consolidate the strongman’s influences at mid-level government.