Johor delivers heavy blows to PM

MALAYSIA: Pakatan Harapan (PH), the coalition led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, faced a heavy defeat in the Johor state elections. It lost many seats to its allies in government, the Barisan Nasional (BN) and lost voter support overall.

However, the biggest blow to Anwar is the shift in voting patterns as the Chinese and Indian communities dealt his coalition the biggest blow. A large chunk of their votes went to the Barisan Nasional’s race-based parties, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC).

While Anwar will be dissecting why the voters from these communities have abandoned his PH coalition, he is expected to face another challenge in August when the Democratic Action Party (DAP) decides whether it will stay in the Madani government or get its MPs to sit as backbenchers.

Meanwhile, BN cruised to victory with 48 seats out of 56 up for grabs. PH managed to win only eight. Seven of their candidates lost their deposits, showing how badly Anwar’s party did in the elections.

BN’s result was better than the 40 seats it secured in the 2022 race.

Besides PH, the opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) was dealt a bigger blow. It lost all its seats, and 21 of its candidates lost their deposits in the process.

The complete wipeout of the PN means the party of former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is also wiped out in Johor, along with the Islamists from the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS). They won zero seats, and the corny affair for PN is that the Pas urged its voters to pick BN candidates while the Islamists refrained from backing Muhyiddin’s candidates. An anomaly that has resulted in both parties getting wiped out in Johor.

Nevertheless, several media outlets are saying that these results will now put pressure on Anwar as they will cast doubts within his coalition in power in Putrajaya.

Anwar fought against Barisan Nasional, raising issues of former jailed PM Najib Razak’s pardon and corruption cases against BN and their leaders. The reference to Najib has led the latter to post a sarcastic comment on Sunday, asking when he will be released from jail. Anwar’s Pakatan had campaigned in Johor against BN, saying a big win by the party would mean the release of Najib from jail.

While the green wave (of the Islamists) died in Johor, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, deputy prime minister and BN president, said he hoped the victory meant a blue wave is coming at the national level.

“We also hope this victory will trigger a blue wave in the elections to come,” he said.

The result is not expected to change Anwar’s parliamentary majority, but the sweeping BN victory means Umno may now force the narrative and the way the government is run.

It might also get Umno going on the case of Najib Razak, perhaps pushing for a successful pardon from the King this time around.

United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) may also demand that the Chinese-dominated DAP’s role or presence in the government, where it is a strong partner, should be diminished in order to please the majority Malay voter base.