PH will be BN’s main rival in Johor, says Umno veep

 

Pakatan Harapan will provide the main challenge to Barisan Nasional in the Johor elections, says Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin.

JOHOR BAHRU: Pakatan Harapan, rather than Bersatu, will be Barisan National’s main challenger in the coming Johor state elections, says Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin.

Khaled said Bersatu did not have the structure and mechanism of a grassroots party despite its president Muhyiddin Yassin having previously been in Umno.

“Perhaps this is why Muhyiddin is not contesting this round,” he told FMT.

“For Umno, the strongest challenge will be from PH. However, I believe Bersatu leaders who are in the government will use all their resources to compete against us in the state elections,” he said.

Khaled said Umno and BN were confident of their chances because of PH’s failure to govern the state well for 22 months, pointing out that it had changed its menteri besar twice in that period.

Although BN stood by its track record, Khaled conceded that it would not be easy for the coalition because of uncertainty of how younger Malaysians, aged 18 and above, would vote.

On claims that the “court cluster” had pushed for a snap election in Johor, Khaled said it had nothing to do with them as the state government was not stable due to a single-seat majority.

“Legitimacy is also a question. This is because the present government is founded on political manoeuvring. It is better to give (the mandate) back to the people.

“A government with a single seat majority, which always needs to make concessions and negotiate with elected representatives, is in an unhealthy and unproductive situation,” he said.

Khaled denied that the corruption case against Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would affect the party’s chances. He said the people’s support for BN or any other party would depend on the party’s performance.

“In Melaka, BN’s performance was not affected by the president’s case. Umno respects the judiciary system. We will give him the room to clear his name and prove his innocence.

“People can see Umno does not interfere (in Zahid’s case) and therefore they can see that the party’s performance is separate from the president’s case which is a private matter,” he said.

The Johor state assembly was dissolved last Saturday after weeks of speculation and calls from Umno leaders for fresh polls. The Election Commission will meet on Feb 9 to decide on election dates. - FMT