The prime minister said the government will investigate if there was interference from the Johor palace.

“Well, there must be some interference, that is why they made the remark. We will see if there is any interference or not,” he told reporters in Parliament today.

On Monday, the Johor government said it would maintain its age cap for youths at 40, only to announce a day later that it would follow Putrajaya’s redefinition of the maximum age for youths at 30.

However, on Tuesday night Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali, the executive councillor in charge of youth, sports, entrepreneur development and cooperatives, said the Johor government would revert to 40 following “advice from several quarters”.

It was speculated that Sheikh Umar made the announcement after a meeting with Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.

Mahathir said Putrajaya wants to see if the interference was justified.

He added that the decision to bring down the age limit could leave many youth associations with members who are no longer considered “youth”.