Johor stays blue as Umno tightens grip on home state

 BN retains power after weathering challenges from PH and PN, giving Onn Hafiz Ghazi a stronger hand to govern.

BN’s emphatic victory allows its Johor chief, Onn Hafiz Ghazi, to stay true to his pre-election pledge to govern the state without relying on any other party.

PETALING JAYA:

Barisan Nasional tightened its grip on Johor tonight, returning to power with another election victory that hands the Umno-led coalition a stronger mandate to lead the state where the party was born.

The coalition is on course to win 48 of the 56 seats in the legislative assembly, surpassing its 2022 tally of 40 and comfortably fending off a challenge from Pakatan Harapan for leadership of the state government. A two-thirds majority is reached with 38 seats.

The election marked the first official clash between BN and PH since the formation of the federal unity coalition government in November 2022, barring one “friendly” contest during the Sabah polls in November.

Top leaders barely held themselves back as PH targeted BN’s poster boy, state BN chief Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who in turn took aim at the federal government’s policies.

Umno also had to deal with former Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi quitting the party and accusing the state chapter of lacking autonomy and Onn Hafiz of being a “puppet”.

BN, however, largely focused on its track record as the state government and on the state’s development, particularly with the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, although PH leaders said that was more thanks to Putrajaya.

While BN benefited from a very low 54.9% voter turnout in 2022, the grand old coalition had nothing to fear from the higher turnout recorded today, even wresting marginal seats previously won by PH and PN.

Umno accounted for the bulk of BN’s victories while MCA also wrested seats like Jementah, Johor Jaya and Tangkak from DAP, while winning the Layang-Layang seat previously held by Umno.

MIC, on the other hand, is expected to either maintain or expand on its haul of three seats it won in 2022.

The result marks another electoral triumph for BN in a state long regarded as one of its strongest bastions, reinforcing Johor’s status as the coalition’s political heartland despite a more crowded and competitive contest than in 2022.

For Onn Hafiz, the victory is a personal endorsement of his leadership after more than four years as menteri besar.

The victory vindicates his decision for BN to contest the election on its own, despite being a partner with PH in the federal government, and allowed him to fulfil his pledge that BN would govern the state without relying on coalition partners.

The state Umno chief previously said he would rather not be menteri besar than govern Johor with DAP, and also ruled out including PAS in his state government if BN formed the next administration.

For BN, the Johor victory will be a crucial shot in the arm ahead of the Negeri Sembilan state election on Aug 1 where it is also going solo again, with nominations taking place next Saturday (July 18).

However, pundits have warned BN against basing its projections for the next general election based on Johor, especially since its dismal electoral performance in the 2022 general election came eight months after its landslide win in the previous Johor polls. - FMT