JOHOR BARU: The Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led by Umno has won 40 of the 56 wards in the Johor state election on Saturday, informal results show, putting it on course to form the state government with a two-thirds majority.
Apart from its traditional strongholds in north Johor, BN won in some urban wards near Johor Baru and Pasir Gudang, the State’s main economic hubs.
These seats had been won by the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the 2018 election.
BN, which has seen a revival of its political fortunes since its unprecedented electoral defeat at the 2018 General Election, went into the Johor polls as favourites to win against former premier Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) and PH led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
PH managed to secure 13 seats, including one won by ally Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda), while PN won just three.
Leading the charge for BN’s Johor campaign was former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, whose role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal had contributed to BN’s unprecedented defeat by PH at the 2018 general election.
A resounding win in Johor means Umno leaders aligned to Najib will likely press party colleague and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaaakob to dissolve Parliament and call for a general election as early as the second half of this year.
As BN’s win became apparent on Saturday night, supporters started chanting “Bubar Parlimen” (Dissolve Parliament) at Ismail Sabri, who was watching the election results at Umno headquarters in Johor Baru.
The next general election is not due until mid-2023, but the current Government formed by BN and PN only has a four-seat majority in Parliament.
Some Umno leaders believe an early election would garner a stronger mandate for the party and make it less reliant on support from PN, with whom it shares frosty ties.
Voter turnout in Johor was low, standing at just 50 per cent of eligible voters as at 4pm, according to the Election Commission.
In terms of absolute numbers, however, more than 1.25 million people cast their ballots on Saturday, close to the 1.33 million who voted in the 2018 national polls.
Johor’s electoral roll nearly doubled in size to 2.5 million people after the implementation of a new law that lowered the voting age to 18 and allowed for unregistered eligible voters to be automatically added to the electoral roll.
Several new parties eyeing support from first-time voters made their debut in the Johor polls, including youth-based Muda led by former Cabinet Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air led by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Parti Warisan led by former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
Opposition politicians had previously warned that a low voter turnout in Johor could hand the advantage to BN, which had said it aims to retain the state administration with a two-thirds majority.
The election was called after the BN’s majority in the State Assembly was reduced to one following the death of a government-allied assemblyman in December.
