PH to learn from Johor loss ahead of Negeri Sembilan polls, says Amirudin

 The coalition’s Johor election director says its machinery and war room will review the election strategy.

Pakatan Harapan’s Johor election director Amirudin Shari said the Johor election has shown that PH and Barisan Nasional remain the two major coalitions in the state.

JOHOR BAHRU:

Pakatan Harapan’s Johor election director Amirudin Shari says PH will learn from its defeat in Johor and conduct a post-mortem before the next state election in Negeri Sembilan.

“Our machinery and war room need to go back and identify our mistakes and other issues, and review our election strategy.

“This election has shown that PH and Barisan Nasional remain the two major coalitions in Johor, and we respect the people’s decision as expressed through the ballot box,” he told a press conference tonight.

Meanwhile, Amanah deputy president Mujahid Yusof Rawa said the results of the Johor polls should not be viewed as being predictive of the next general election, arguing that state and federal contests were shaped by different factors.

“In a state election, we have to take into account the menteri besar and his popularity with the youth. That is different from a general election.

“In a general election, the main issue is who will become prime minister. We are confident that PH has the best candidate for prime minister. The situation will be different,” he said.

Mujahid said the coalition would thoroughly review voting trends across localities and polling streams before finalising its strategy for Negeri Sembilan.

Amanah vice-president Dr Hatta Ramli said the coalition had nevertheless achieved one of its objectives by raising voter turnout to almost 70%, compared with just over 50% in the 2022 Johor election.

“We were determined to ensure turnout was higher than in the 2022 state election, and we achieved that.”

He said PH believed a higher voter turnout generally translated into stronger support for the coalition, and expected participation to be even higher at the next general election. - FMT