JOHOR BAHRU: Johoreans headed to the polls on Saturday (Jul 11) in a closely watched state election that analysts say will largely be a contest between the governing Barisan Nasional (BN) and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH).More than 2.7 million people were eligible to vote, and about 67.4 per cent of them had cast their ballots as of 5pm, according to the Election Commission (EC). This was more than 14 percentage points higher than during the 2022 state polls. The Sri Medan and Semarang state constituencies recorded the highest voter turnout as at 5pm, at 77.2 per cent and 76.8 per cent respectively.
Voting at 1,076 polling centres across the state closed at 6pm and results could be announced from about 10pm.Both BN and PH fielded candidates in all 56 state seats. Although both BN and PH are partners in Anwar’s federal unity government, they remain political rivals in Johor.BN won 40 seats in the 2022 election while PH, the state’s main opposition bloc, won 12. Cost of living, housing affordability and delays to the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) masterplan were among the key issues during the two-week campaign. The campaign also saw claims that a BN victory could pave the way for former PM Najib Razak’s release from prison, while Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) called on its supporters to back BN in constituencies not contested by its coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN). Meanwhile, smaller reformist parties such as the Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) and the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) could reshape the contest by “disrupting the balance of votes” among PH’s traditional urban voters, analysts told CNA.
