Unity govt in Johor? Umno won’t let that happen, says Shahril

 

Former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan said Umno’s grassroots had been ‘confused’ since past elections, but motivation was rising due to recent victories. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

Former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan has dismissed calls from certain quarters to form a unity government in Johor following Barisan Nasional’s (BN) recent victory in the Mahkota by-election.

Shahril said many outsiders did not fully understand Umno’s operational dynamics, which were heavily influenced by grassroots sentiments.

The Umno grassroots have been somewhat ‘confused’ since the 2018 and 2022 general elections,

 he said in the latest episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast.

With one victory after another, the motivation among the grassroots is beginning to rise. This is a ‘wave’, and to my understanding, the Umno leadership will not let go of this wave.

 

To avoid jeopardising this momentum and grassroots support, Shahril said the Umno leadership would not include DAP or PH in the Johor state government.

They will use the low Chinese voter turnout (in the by-election) as a justification as to why it should remain a BN government in Johor and not include DAP/PH.

Shahril’s remarks come on the back of suggestions by some individuals, such as Johor Amanah chief Aminolhuda Hassan, who proposed forming a unity government if BN’s Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah wins the Mahkota by-election.

The Johor government was formed by BN, which holds 39 seats in the state assembly, supported by Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) 12 seats. However, unlike at the federal level, the two coalitions have not established a formal alliance.

In response, DAP’s former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming clarified that there is minimal pressure from PH, specifically DAP, to pursue a unity government in Johor. 

The status quo can be accepted by PH-DAP.

Low Chinese voter turnout in Mahkota polls?

Earlier in the podcast, co-host Khairy Jamaluddin had raised the issue of low Chinese voter turnout in the Mahkota by-election.

Khairy cited the Bandar Tengah polling district in Mahkota as an example, where the BN candidate garnered 1,212 votes, a stark decline from nearly 1,800 combined votes for PH and BN in the 2022 state elections.

While Ong acknowledged the low turnout among Chinese voters, he said there was also a decrease among Malay voters.

Since the stakes aren’t very high for this by-election, they decided not to vote. For the general election, I think the story will be different,

 he said.

Ong further attributed the low Chinese voter turnout to internal tensions between Umno and DAP, pointing to DAP’s concerns that Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh’s participation in the campaign could have deterred Chinese voters.

He was referring to the war-of-words between Akmal and DAP’s Teresa Kok in the mandatory halal certification proposal.

At the same time, Datuk Seri Nur Jazlan, on behalf of the Umno president, also said DAP isn’t serious about this (by-election),

 he said. - FMT