JOHOR BAHARU, May 9 – The Umno stronghold in Johor remains strong despite attempts by the Pakatan Rakyat to threaten this, with more than 90 per cent of parliamentary and state seat candidates achieving a comfortable win.
The Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) managed to obtain a two-third majority of state seats although the opposition presented stiff competition in Johor led by DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang.
Formed 67 years ago in 1946 at the Istana Besar Johor, the Johor Umno is still the party of choice among Malay voters. The Johor Umno, under its chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, contested 34 of 56 state seats and 17 of 26 parliamentary seats.
Umno candidates captured 32 state seats and only lost in Sungai Abong and Maharani, which are both in Muar. Both Umno candidates, Dr Mohd Haris Salleh (Sungai Abong) and Zulkhairi Ahmad (Maharani) lost to PAS candidate Dr Sheikh Ibrahim Salleh and Dr Mohammad Taslim. The Sungai Abong and Maharani state seats which were defended by PAS for a second term have a high number of Chinese voters with 45.22 per cent and 41.98 per cent each.
“Both BN candidates were affected by the change from urban Chinese voters and split among Malay votes,” said a local political analyst. The Chinese Tsunami, coined by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, which struck and contributed to the loss of Umno and BN leaders in the 13th general election was seen as barely affecting Johor but sacrificed Abdul Ghani, who had developed and united the people of Johor with his approach dubbed the ‘Cara Johor’ (Johor Way).
Only Abdul Ghani and an Umno candidate in Batu Pahat were defeated in their quest to grab parliamentary seats from the 17 contested. Having led Johor as Menteri Besar for 18 years, he was defeated by Lim in a highly anticipated fight this election as it was the first time a DAP candidate faced an Umno candidate in the general election.
Lim, who led DAP’s attack on BN’s stronghold in Johor, received 54,284 votes compared to Ghani’s 39,522 votes. Chinese voters who make up the majority in Gelang Patah with 52.41 per cent, followed by Malays with 34.28 per cent, clearly did not consider Abdul Ghani’s deeds and sacrifices in Johor when they cast their vote for Lim.
Umno candidate for the Batu Pahat parliamentary seat, former Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi also lost to the shift in Chinese votes to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate Datuk Idris Juzi. Although Batu Pahat is home to 52.67 Malay voters, the 45.60 per cent Chinese voters was a determining factor in the win should there be disunity among Malay voters.
Besides Umno, the MCA fielded 16 candidates for state seats and seven parliamentary seats, MIC fielded candidates for a parliamentary seat and four state seats, while Gerakan put forward candidates for one parliamentary and two state seats. Of the 16 state seats, MCA only won two, namely in Paloh and Pulai Sebatang, as well as four parliamentary seats out of seven contested.
MCA candidates won in Labis (Datuk Chua Tee Yong), Ayer Hitam (Datuk Wee Ka Siong), Tebrau (Khoo Soo Seang) and Tanjong Piai (Datuk Wee Jeck Seng). MIC fielded its Deputy President Datuk Seri S.Subramaniam for the Segamat parliamentary seat and four others for the state seats, Gambir, Kahang, Puteri Wangsa and Tenggaroh, and won all the seats contested. Gerakan’s candidate won its only parliamentary seat, Simpang Renggam, and one of two state seats it contested, Permanis, while it lost Bukit Batu to a PKR candidate.
Overall, the opposition won 18 state seats and five parliamentary seats which is a good achievement in a state they declared as an Umno and BN stronghold. The 18 state seats won by the opposition in Johor were Jementah, Bekok, Tangkak, Bentayan, Sungai Abong, Maharani, Yong Peng, Parit Yaani, Penggaram, Mengkibol, Puteri Wangsa, Johor Jaya, Stulang, Pengkalan Rinting, Skudai, Bukit Batu, Senai and Pekan Nenas. DAP candidates won 14 of the 18 state seats, PAS in Sungai Abong, Maharani and Parit Yaani while PKR won their only seat in Bukit Batu. The parliamentary seats won by the DAP were Gelang Patah, Kluang, Kulai and Bakri.
– BERNAMA
