MCA wins 8 seats in Johor, surpassing DAP’s 6

 The BN component party's biggest achievement was to regain Tangkak, Jementah and Johor Jaya, which had been held by DAP since 2013.

Having consistently lost multiple urban, Chinese-majority seats to DAP over the past decade or so, the outcome of the Johor polls could put to rest calls for MCA to leave BN.

PETALING JAYA:

MCA has won eight seats in the Johor state assembly, surpassing DAP’s haul of six seats, in what marks a major achievement for Umno’s Chinese-based partner in Barisan Nasional.

The outcome of the Johor election overturns a record of consistent MCA losses in urban, Chinese-majority seats to DAP over the past decade or so, and could put to rest calls for MCA to leave BN.

The party’s biggest achievement tonight was in regaining Tangkak, Jementah and Johor Jaya, three seats that were MCA seats for years before falling to DAP in 2013, 2018 and 2022, although with significantly reduced majorities.

MCA also managed to maintain its grip on Pekan Nanas, Yong Peng, Bekok and Paloh – seats that it won in 2022 – and helped BN hold on to the Layang-Layang seat, which Umno won in 2022, seeing off the challenge of PKR’s B Guna and Bersatu’s Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim.

DAP, on the other hand, saw its 10 seats dwindle to six, with three lost to MCA and one to MIC (Perling), while clinging on to the Bentayan, Mengkibol, Stulang, Penggaram, Senai and Skudai seats.

The result averts a repeat of the total wipeout it experienced in the Sabah polls in November, but will undoubtedly set alarm bells ringing among the top leadership with the next general election not long from now. - FMT