Naming MB candidate has given BN ‘an edge’, says analyst

 

Hasni Mohammad is the ideal Barisan Nasional candidate for Johor menteri besar says USM’s Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid.

PETALING JAYA: While other major parties have foregone naming their menteri besar candidate until after the results of the Johor state elections, Barisan Nasional’s (BN) eagerness to push incumbent Hasni Mohammad has given them “an edge”, a political analyst believes.

Among Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) – the two other major coalitions – only PN can count a former menteri besar among its ranks – Bersatu’s Sahruddin Jamal, who Umno’s Hasni replaced following the Sheraton Move that toppled PH.

According to Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia, promoting Hasni’s candidacy has provided clarity on BN’s policy direction given the former Benut assemblyman’s record as a “uniting rather than divisive figure” during his short tenure as the menteri besar.

“In trying times when the country is beset with multiple economic and health crises, a less partisan political leader is more than welcome, and Hasni has a reasonable track record here,” he told FMT.

Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid.

For example, he said, it was under Hasni that all opposition assemblymen were first offered equal allocations in 2020, a policy that even the federal government has since adopted and one which was lauded by opposition members when it was announced during the tabling of the 2021 state budget.

Hasni has since promised that this would continue should BN secure victory on Saturday, in addition to the enactment of an anti-hopping law and the redrawing of state constituencies, all enshrined in BN’s stability-centric manifesto.

However, Ahmad said, if BN was able to register a more convincing majority than the slim margin it recently held when allied with PN, Hasni must resist the temptation to stray from inclusivity and “gobble everything up for Umno”.

Ahmad said while BN was wise to name Hasni early, it did not necessarily mean others who had held off naming their poster boy had made a mistake.

“Coalitions other than BN have a more diverse composition, and might not want the naming of a menteri besar candidate to derail efforts to unite the campaigns of their component parties,” he said.

For example, he singled out PKR’s Maszlee Malik and Amanah’s Salahuddin Ayob, both experienced former federal ministers, as credible contenders should PH win. - FMT