Johor Pakatan says no to state election idea for the time being

JOHOR BARU: Johor Pakatan Harapan has rejected the idea of having a state election at the moment, claiming it is not sensitive towards the difficult reality being faced by the people.

The coalition said the economic slowdown due to Covid-19 was still unresolved while the emergence of the Omicron variant adds to the people’s concern.

"Many ordinary people are still affected with most of them having lost their jobs forcing a change in their lives.

"Adding to their sadness, the government's failure to stabilise the prices of goods has also 'rubbed salt to the wounds' suffered by the people," it said in a statement.

The statement was issued by Johor Pakatan chairman Aminolhuda Hassan, who is also state Parti Amanah Negara chairman, state PKR chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh and state DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong here on Sunday (Dec 26).

They said, at the same time, the country was also struggling with floods that have claimed the lives of dozens of people involving the destruction of properties worth millions of ringgit.

"Johor Pakatan is of the view that the statement made by Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad regarding the possibility of having state elections is not empathetic with the people’s plight.

"All efforts energy, commitment and funds should be channelled to help the people who are in trouble at this time, even though the position of the state assembly is at 28 seats in favour of the government and 27 seats for Pakatan following the passing of Kempas assemblyman Datuk Osman Sapian on Wednesday (Dec 22)," the statement added.

The statement said the state Pakatan had given its full commitment to focus on safeguarding the people’s interest instead of playing politics just for power struggles alone.

On Saturday (Dec 25), Hasni said the state government would be evaluating the need to run a state election following Osman's death.

He however added that the requirement to hold a state election cannot be solely based on having a majority of one seat as the Johor political situation is different from Melaka and Sarawak.

"I will need to meet with the other component party that currently forms the government to get feedback from other assemblymen on whether we should hold a state election," said Hasni.

"The current government right now is a bit unstable due to the one-seat majority. Running a by-election is also not an option as Johor assembly Speaker Suhaizan Kayat has said that the current government has been running for more than three years," he added.

He said that the current government has managed to run the state assembly smoothly and has managed to introduce some policies for the people.

Hasni also said that he will be meeting with the other assemblymen during a special state assembly sitting on Jan 6 to amend the state Constitution in line with Undi18 to lower the voting age and implement automatic voter registration.

"We will be looking at this matter (state election) from all angles and will be getting feedback from all assemblymen on this," said Hasni.