Four takeaways from the Johor polls

JOHOR POLLS | BN continued its march on the path of revival with a triumphant outing during the 15th Johor legislative assembly election.

Here are four key outcomes of the Johor election, observed by Malaysiakini's editorial staff.

Ismail Sabri under pressure

Pressure will continue to pile on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to dissolve Parliament to pave the way for a parliamentary election.

Leading the charge for fresh election is Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, whose goal for calling for a fresh election soon was to ride on BN's current momentum.

Ismail Sabri has no incentive to do so. He has not even served a year as prime minister and there is no guarantee that the party leadership will give him the job after a BN victory.

However, with Umno's annual delegates assembly taking place between March 18 and March 19, delegates are expected to pass leadership-sanctioned resolutions that will further pressure Ismail Sabri to call for a snap election.

As the vice-president of Umno, Ismail Sabri will have little choice but to yield, lest he is willing to face the wrath of the grassroots during the upcoming party leadership election.

Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his wife cast their votes

Muhyiddin vanquished in home state

Perikatan Nasional and Bersatu leader Muhyiddin Yassin's rapid decline continues following the Johor election.

Just 210 days ago, he was forced to step down as prime minister. Yesterday, his party and coalition were vanquished in his home state where he was once the menteri besar.

Muhyiddin wasn't even able to ensure that the Gambir seat, where he was the incumbent, could be retained by Bersatu.

PN came in a distant third during the election, polling just 24 percent of the votes cast, behind Pakatan Harapan (30 percent) and winners BN (43 percent).

This is PN's second third-place outing since the Malacca election last November, further dampening the coalition's prospects for the next general election and Muhyiddin's prospects of ever sitting on the prime minister's chair again.

Anwar avoided 'egg' hat-trick

During the Malacca and Sarawak elections recently, PKR - a party that claims that their president is a prime minister-in-waiting - did not win a single seat.

This led to them suffering the ignominy of scoring an "egg" during those two elections. The losing streak was broken during the Johor election by winning one seat (Bukit Batu) and that, too, by a sliver - 137 votes.

Even though PKR broke the streak, they are still in a worse position now and this will further strain ties within the Harapan coalition.

First, Harapan's chairperson and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim has led the coalition into disastrous electoral outings three times in a row.

Secondly, PKR's insistence on using its own "blue eye" logo, ostensibly because it was well-received in 2018, instead of the coalition's "Star Trek" logo was a complete flop.

The move was seen as a blatant display of coalition disunity by allies Amanah and the DAP which remained committed to the coalition logo.

Finally, of all three Harapan component parties, PKR performed the worst. Seven PKR candidates did not win enough votes to keep their deposits.

Moving forward, PKR will have less bargaining power with their allies should they decide to stick around in the coalition.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad

From 'third force' to 'spent force'

Dr Mahathir Mohamad was once one of the most powerful men in Asia. However, as he winds down his political career, his party's decision to participate in the Johor election made him look the complete opposite.

In 2020, Mahathir abandoned Harapan and formed Pejuang as a "third force", an alternative to both BN, Harapan and Bersatu which he once headed.

Pejuang fielded 42 candidates in Johor. None of them kept their deposits, including one of Pejuang's current MPs.

This is a complete change of fortunes for Mahathir, who, just four years ago, was swept into power on the promise of reforms when he was part of the Harapan coalition.

Pejuang was not alone. Staunch Mahathir ally Shafie Apdal also took a hit in Johor.

Shafie's Sabah-based party Warisan decided to use the Johor election to "test waters" in Peninsular Malaysia.

It turned into a misadventure as all six Warisan candidates lost their deposits, which could possibly sink Shafie's ambitions of becoming prime minister. - Mkini