MACHAP, Johor: The campaign for the Johor’s Jul 11 state elections kicked off on Saturday (Jun 27) with contests confirmed in all 56 seats of the state assembly with a total of 172 candidates. The incumbent ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) and the biggest opposition block Pakatan Harapan (PH) have fielded candidates to contest in every seat, as earlier pledged by their respective leaders - Johor caretaker chief minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, with PH introducing a lineup of mostly new faces. But Perikatan Nasional (PN), which forms the biggest opposition block at the federal level, is contesting just 33 seats in total, despite saying a month ago that it planned to contest all 56. The embattled coalition is plagued by infighting between its main component parties Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).Analysts told CNA that PN’s decision to not contest the other 23 constituencies could benefit BN as it will likely not split the ethnic Malay votes, increasing the latter's chances of clinching these seats.
While BN have maintained that there are no political pacts with any parties for the Johor polls, observers added that PN’s decision to stand aside for some key battlegrounds could pave the way for future cooperation between PAS and BN’s lynchpin party United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) in subsequent state polls or the upcoming general election. BN and PH are partners in Anwar’s federal unity government but are on opposite benches in the Johor state assembly since the last polls in 2022. Meanwhile, several key PH Johor stalwarts were not fielded for the polls such as Deputy Minister of Finance Liew Chin Tong, the coalition’s Johor chapter chief Aminolhuda Hassan and three-term state assemblywoman and former state executive councillor Liow Cai Tung, with new faces taking their place. Observers said that this is part of the coalition’s leadership transition with many of these experienced leaders slated to play a bigger role at the federal level, making way for younger politicians at the state level, which encompasses handling local and municipal issues. Besides the three big coalitions, Parti Bersama Malaysia which is led by two former federal ministers Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, have fielded 15 candidates in mostly urban seats. Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) is contesting four seats while The Socialist Party of Malaysia and Orang Asli Party of Malaysia will be contesting one seat each. There are also six independents whose candidacies were approved on nomination day. The election commission confirmed that the contests will see 14 straight fights involving two candidates, 27 three-way contests, 12 four-way fights and three five-way battles.
