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THE tactful Anwar did not burn the bridge altogether. He did hint that there was still room for negotiation if the “enemy” wishes to do so. Zahid has kept quiet on this issue and at the time of writing PH and BN are set for a free-for-all in Johore. 

A senior Umno leader who is a Federal Minister and former Johore MB gave the excuse that BN has been the dominant party in Johor for the past decade and therefore it has every right to contest all seats. What a flimsy excuse.

He seemed to have forgotten that BN is part of the Madani Government and that apart from DPM Zahid, a few other Ministers from BN are also in the Cabinet, holding important portfolios. He seemed to have forgotten that BN was voted out by Malaysians in 2018 and was able to return to government by “fluke” in 2020 and 2022.

As the saying goes, Either You Have The Cake Or You Don’t, You Can’t Take The Whole Cake and Eat it. Be grateful to Anwar. Even if BN withdraws now, PH still have the simple majority with the help of Sabah and Sarawak. The situation is not the same as 2021 when BN stabbed Muhyiddin in the back.

Anwar was so angry in his speech that he warned the “Anak-Anak Muda” (Young Punks) not to take him for granted. He said he was once beaten badly before sent to prison (twice) and nothing the Young Punks do now can frighten him.

Although he did not name them, but obviously one of the “Young Punks” referred to was the Johore MB who in term of age can be his son. The Johore MB is a nephew of former Minister Hishamuddin who recently returned to Umno together with KJ, The MB is also a grand son of former PM Tun Hussein Onn.

As fate would have it, today Zahid is Anwar’s DPM. What an irony, bearing in mind the “No Anwar, No DAP” battle cry of Umno during the 2022 MP election.

Meanwhile, hardly had the N9 affair died down, Umno Johore dropped a bombshell when its MB announced that BN would contest all 56 seats in the State, leaving no room for PH. This is not in the spirit of the Unity Government, another sign that all is not well.

A day after Johore Umno’s declaration, PH held its convention in Johore, ironically. As for the timing of Johore Umno’s announcement and its implication, I leave it to your imagination.

The warming up speeches by PH leaders in Johore as expected expressed their anger and urged the top PH leadership to retaliate. They included DAP secretary general Anthony Loke who gave a very good speech. Using visual presentation, he tore PN including PAS apart, exposing their hypocrisy.

For example, he said when both DAP and PAS were in a coalition before (Pakatan Rakyat?) PAS had no objection to DAP fighting for the acceptance of Independent Chinese Secondary School qualification (UEC). Now that the two parties are no longer in the same coalition, PAS accuses DAP of stirring up racial sentiments.

Even Muhyiddin has no objection then, he pointed out.

He also took a swipe at MCA , saying that PH and DAP have done a lot for Johore. All these including under Loke’s Transport Ministry are funded by the Federal Government and not the Johore Government. Admitting that the Federal Government fell short of recognizing UEC fully, at least there is an improvement when the Education Ministry announced that UEC students can now apply to enter public universities provided they pass Bahasa and History. “All this is achieved while DAP is in the government, not when MCA was in the government,” he reminded.

Looks that the next few months will see elections not just in Johore but also in N9. Late Thursday night, the N9 MB announced that the State Assembly would be dissolved on Friday, 5 June. Meaning there will be elections in at least two States. 

There are also rumours that one or two other States including Malacca may also dissolve their assemblies soon; for that matter Parliament although the PMX had denied it.

Analysts pointed out that denials by politicians is normal, adding there is no law saying that they can’t change their minds overnight. Speculation about Parliament’s dissolution started surfacing since the Gulf War broke out and oil prices started going upwards.

The situation in N9 is different from Johore. Although BN had more Assemblymen than PH in N9, the difference is that the N9 MB has always been from PKR since 2018. PH invited BN to form a coalition government in N9 after the 2022 election.

N9, Selangor and Penang are the only 3 States where the MB/CM are from PH. The MB/CM in Johore, Malacca, Pahang and Perak are from BN. Quite interesting. Whether the other BN-controlled State will also dissolve, we wait and see.

Selangor may also dissolve as the MB is reported to be not interested in the job anymore. The expected new MB-in-waiting is former Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul who is of royal blood. If I am not mistaken, the current MB is also a MP, therefore allowing him to be a Federal Minister. Even if he is not, he can always be appointed a Senator if the PM wants him to be in the Cabinet.

The Umno Youth leader is from Malacca. He resigned as a Malacca State Exco a few months ago to “fight DAP habis-bahisan”. Let’s see how things work out when the Malacca Assembly is dissolved and whether Anwar can do anything. As it is, I don’t think Umno cares what Anwar is going to do anymore.

I don’t want to take sides but the Umno Youth leader Dr Akmal’s outburst was perhaps justified. I forgot what the original statement of Akmal was, but a DAP Malacca leader, another big-mouth, criticized him by asking “Lu siapa oh?”. Lu is Hokkien for You. A lot of Chinese in Malacca speak Hokkien where, just like Penang, many are Nyoya-Baba.

In announcing his resignation as Malacca Exco member but remaining as Umno Youth leader, Akmal angrily said: “Nanti Gua bagi tahu Lu I siapa”, adding he will from then on fight DAP until the end. ‘Gua’ is Hokkien for me. Mind you, both Umno and DAP are supposed to be part of the Madani government. Looks like I better get ready my coffee and peanuts by next month. 

Unlike Sarawak, there is Umno in Sabah but I will leave that to another day. 

The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: Forum@dailyexpress.com.my