Serving the people remains Onn Hafiz's priority amid early state poll speculation

JOHOR BAHRU - Amid growing speculation that the Johor state election could be called earlier than expected, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the matter is not his priority at the moment.

Instead, the Johor Umno chief said his main focus remains on serving the people and addressing their needs.

The Machap state assemblyman noted that the current state administration’s term will only end in April 2027.

"I still have more than a year before the term matures. My focus is to continue serving the people. We do not work because of elections; we work because it is our responsibility and mandate from the people.

"So the priority is to continue to serve the people. As long as we are still the government of the day, that will always be our priority,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama led by editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj at Saujana, the Johor Menteri Besar’s Official Residence, recently.

Amid growing speculation that the Johor state election could be called earlier than expected, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the matter is not his priority at the moment. Photo: Onn Hafiz Ghazi/Facebook

Speculation about the possibility of a state election being called this year has intensified, particularly after several political parties announced plans to contest a number of seats.

Recently, PKR and Amanah said they had identified 28 and 20 seats, respectively, for their candidates to contest in the upcoming polls.

In addition, Johor Pakatan Harapan (PH) has established four strategic committees, including Johor Madani, the Seat Distribution Committee, the Issues and Communications Committee, and the Federal Ministers Coordination Committee.

Earlier, Johor Umno deputy chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Maslan said the party has yet to make any decision on the form of cooperation or seat distribution for the next state election.

He said no official negotiations have taken place at either the state or federal level on the matter so far.

In the last state election, Barisan Nasional secured a two-thirds majority by winning 40 of the 56 seats contested, while PH won 12 seats, Perikatan Nasional (PN) three seats and Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) one seat.

Onn Hafiz won the Machap seat with a majority of 6,543 votes, defeating Azlisham Azahar of PN, R Sangaran of MUDA and Sharuddin Md Salleh of Parti Pejuang Tanah Air. - BERNAMA