Malaysia's Largest Political Party's Birth State Falls to Alliance of Hope

JOHOR BAHRU (Johor, Malaysia), May 10 (Bernama) -- Johor, the birth state of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) has fallen into the hands of Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) in the 14th general election (GE14) after it managed to win only 19 of the 56 state seats contested. Johor BN (Barisan National or National Front) chairman and Chief Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin was defeated in the Pasir Gudang parliamentary seat and failed to defend his Permas state seat. MIC president and Segamat parliamentary seat incumbent, Dr S. Subramaniam also met the same fate when he lost to R Santhara Kumar of PKR (People's Justice Party or Parti Keadilan Rakyat). Dr Subramaniam was the only cabinet minister who did not follow his victorious Johor cabinet colleagues, Hishammuddin Hussien (Sembrong), Azalina Othman Said (Pengerang) and Dr Wee Ka Siong (Ayer Hitam) who succeeded in defending their respective seats. GE14 also saw five deputy ministers losing their seats namely Razali Ibrahim (Muar), Chua Tee Yong (Labis), Nur Jazlan Mohamed (Pulai), Ir Hamim Samuri (Ledang), and Abd Aziz Kaprawi (Sri Gading). Meanwhile, two more deputy ministers Halimah Mohamed Sadique won the Kota Tinggi parliamentary seat while Ahmad Maslan retained his Pontian seat. Veteran politician TShahrir Abdul Samad was also beaten by young PKR strategist Akmal Nasrullah Muhd Nasir in the Johor Bahru parliamentary seat. From 26 parliamentary seats contested, BN also won eight seats namely Pengerang, Kota Tinggi, Mersing, Ayer Hitam, Parit Sulong, Pontian, Sembrong and Tenggara. In terms of state seats, Pakatan grabbed 36 seats, a comfortable number to form the new state government while PAS won only one seat. PAS Syura Council chief Dr Mahfodz Mohamed who stood in the Batu Pahat parliamentary and Gambir state seats as well as Johor PAS Commissioner Abdullah Hussein in Tebrau parliamentary seat lost their deposits. Apart from that, 14 PAS candidates contesting in parliamentary seats and 36 state seat candidates also lost their deposits. Five Independent candidates contesting in the parliamentary and state seats also lost their deposits. Meanwhile, Subramaniam, when met in Segamat, said the defeat of BN Segamat was due to a change in the people's perception as well as the national wave which took place all over the country. He said BN needed to change the way of politicking in line with a new approach apart from improving BN in many areas. Johor is Malaysia's southern state. -- BERNAMA