Even royalties have the right to voice their opinion, says Tun M

The Johor crown prince General Brigadier, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim is allowed to voice his critism over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad.

The premier added that this is because even the crown prince has the right to freedom of speech as any other people.

Commenting on the statement made by Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who warned the crown prince from interfering in the country’s politics, Tun M said as long as the government practices freedom of speech, even royalties have the right to voice their opinion.

Tunku Ismail had earlier said that the people should not be blamed if they lose faith in the prime minister following his failure to attend the recently scheduled “Nothing2Hide” forum.

“That is freedom of speech. The crown prince has the right to speak as the government,” said Tun M during a press conference held in Publika here yesterday.

In a report by Malaysiakini yesterday, Nazri had urged Tunku Ismail to stay away from politics following a Facebook status by the crown prince on the #Nothing2Hide dialogue session.

“He should stay out of politics or ... he would face the same thing ... we would whack him.