Johor chief minister to seek Sultan’s consent to dissolve state assembly, paving way for elections

JOHOR BAHRU: Johor chief minister Hasni Mohammad said that he will seek the consent of the state’s ruler Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar at 5pm on Saturday (Jan 22) to dissolve the state assembly, paving the way for elections to be held. 

Mr Hasni made the announcement while speaking to journalists on Saturday afternoon after a meeting with division heads from his party the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO). 

“I will meet His Majesty (Sultan Ibrahim) at 5pm to brief him on what was discussed at the UMNO meeting,” said Mr Hasni. 

“To discuss that I have consent from the (UMNO) liaison body to hold state elections."

Mr Hasni added that a press conference will be held at 6pm to give journalists more clarity on the matter. 

Earlier in the week, Mr Hasni said that he had to be careful and sensitive with regards to the stability of the Johor state government as the state assembly has a slim majority. 

He added that stability in the Johor state government was a prerequisite for some investors and businesses to expand their operations into the southern state. 

Mr Hasni said: “I’ve said that on the need to hold the Johor state elections, I can’t reject it. I have to research and look at the matter closely. The voices from various parties cannot fall on deaf ears.” 

The recent demise of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) member Osman Sapian, and Kempas assemblyman, had set tongues wagging of an impending state election. 

Bersatu was one of the key components which rules the Johor state government, alongside the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.  

His death means that the ruling coalition now holds a slim one-seat majority, with 28 out of the 56 seats in total. 

The opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, made up of Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), has 27 seats.

The Johor government consists of 16 assemblymen from BN and 12 from Perikatan Nasional.

In December, Johor state assembly speaker Suhaizan Kaiat told the Malay Mail that a by-election for the Kempas state seat would not be called following the death of Mr Osman.

He explained that the seat fell vacant more than three years after the incumbent was elected in the 14th general election (GE14) in May 2018, hence a by-election is not required.

However, there have been calls by certain quarters in UMNO to dissolve the state assembly and hold state polls in the short term.

UMNO Johor deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed had told CNA last week that the Johor state government is presently in a “precarious position” given its razor-thin one-seat majority. 

“The chief minister does not have the support of every one even though there's an agreement in place. Better they settle this by going to (a state) election and give the mandate to the people,” he said then. 

Mr Nur Jazlan added that now was the right moment for UMNO to seize on support by the people, given the party’s performance in the Melaka state election in November, where UMNO-led BN swept 21 out of 28 seats. 

The opposition, meanwhile, insisted that this was not the right time to call for an election, due to the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant and that some parts of Johor are still recovering from monsoon floods. 

Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong told CNA that pressure to call for polls was likely coming from UMNO members aligned to former prime minister Najib Razak.

“The UMNO faction aligned to Najib Razak is pushing for a Johor snap poll in order to destabilise the Ismail Sabri government and to trigger a snap poll at the national level, which Najib believes would benefit him and his faction,” said Mr Liew.