“He lives in Selangor. Go back to Kelantan if he is not happy. Build a big house and help the people of Kelantan. Don’t make your wealth here,” Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said in an interview with Utusan Malaysia today.
The stinging response came a day after Umno members burned effigies of the former minister, following Zaid’s Twitter post criticising the sultan over a statement condemning Mahathir in an interview with The Star.
“He (Mahathir) is an angry man and will burn the whole country with his anger,” the sultan reportedly said in the interview.
In his response, Zaid warned rulers not to play politics, saying “they must know the consequences”.
“Sultan Selangor should be careful with his words. No one is immune when country burns,” Zaid posted on Twitter.
Yesterday, Sungai Besar Umno chief Jamal Yunos led party members at the Umno general assembly in a protest where two life-sized effigies of Zaid were burnt.
“If he wants to insult me, he can do so 24 hours a day, but to insult the Selangor sultan is not acceptable,” Jamal said.
The Selangor ruler had earlier called for Mahathir to be investigated for sedition, after the PPBM chairman called Najib Razak a “Bugis pirate” during a rally by Pakatan Harapan in October.
The Selangor royal household are descendants of the Bugis ethnic group from Indonesia.
In his interview today, the ruler said Zaid had deliberately twisted his statement criticising Mahathir.
“I urge Zaid Ibrahim to read carefully my statement and get the facts right before he opens his mouth,” he said.
He added that Zaid had no right to teach him as his statement was in his capacity as a ruler.
“I understand Zaid frequently issues untrue and inaccurate comments about me. Zaid is a politician and a former minister, and I know Zaid has been opposed to the royal institution.
“I have only one advice to Zaid: do not forget your roots and do not destroy the Malays,” he added.