SHAH ALAM – Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's admission that Perikatan Nasional (PN) may not be able to form the state government in the Johor state election is seen as a realistic assessment, given the number of seats the coalition is contesting.
Political analyst Professor Datuk Dr Jayum Jawan said with PN contesting only 33 of the 56 State Legislative Assembly seats, the coalition's chances of forming a government appeared slim, particularly given that PN won only three seats in the previous Johor state election.
He said a more reasonable and attainable target for PN would therefore be to emerge as a strong opposition bloc, which could add value to the state's democratic system.
"Muhyiddin's admission appears quite accurate with the current situation, or 'berpijak di bumi yang nyata' (feet firmly on the ground), because forming a government requires obtaining a simple majority.
"Even if they win around 15 seats, PN can already emerge as a strong opposition and play a check-and-balance role in the State Legislative Assembly," he told Sinar on Wednesday.
He was commenting on Muhyiddin's statement acknowledging that PN might not be able to form the state government after the Johor state election this Saturday, but noted that voter support for the coalition remained crucial in enabling them to become an effective opposition bloc.
Earlier, Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang also said his party was targeting the opposition role in Johor and wished to serve as an adviser to the state government if given the people's mandate.
In the Johor state election, PN fielded candidates in 33 state seats, Bersatu in 16 seats, Pas in 11 seats, the Malaysian Indian Progressive Party in five seats and Pejuang, in one seat.
The three seats won by PN in the 2022 Johor state election were Bukit Kepong and Endau, both represented by Bersatu and Maharani, represented by Pas.
Jayum stressed that a strong opposition must be seen as a vital element in a democratic system, as it could ensure the state government remained more accountable in its decision-making.
He said the opposition was not merely there to criticise, but also functioned to scrutinise every policy and development project to ensure the people truly benefited.
"Any state government still needs a strong opposition as a check and balance.
"When the government announces major projects, there must be a party that evaluates whether the benefits are truly felt by the people or only serve certain groups," he said.
He said the country's political experience since 2018 showed that a strong opposition had improved the quality of parliamentary debate and the scrutiny of government policies.
However, Jayum described the Johor state election as the first testing ground for assessing the strength of the three main Malay political forces, Umno, PKR and Bersatu, ahead of the 16th General Election (GE16).
"Johor is a testing ground for the main parties. Their performance in this state will give an early indication of voter support patterns in the upcoming GE16," he said.