It's up to the Johor MB to decide on snap polls, says PM

PUTRAJAYA: The decision to call for election in Johor will be left to the Mentri Besar, says the Prime Minister.

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Federal government was not involved in the decision making.

Ismail Sabri, who was also Umno vice-president, said the supreme council during its meeting last week had decided to leave the matter to the state liaison chief and Mentri Besar to decide.

"If Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohamed feels that the polls need to be held, then he will seek an audience with the Sultan of Johor (to dissolve state assembly).

"We will leave it to the state to decide," he said.

Earlier, Johor Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman Tosrin Jarvanthi had said that the Johor state election was not discussed during the weekly meeting of state executive council.

The BN-led Johor government’s majority in the state assembly had been reduced to only one seat following the death of Kempas assemblyman Datuk Osman Sapian last month.

The ruling coalition had 28 seats, with BN having 16, Bersatu 11 and PAS one, while Pakatan Harapan had 27 seats in the 56-seat state assembly.

On Tuesday (Jan 18), the opposition bloc in Johor said it was against any move to call for a state election now and offered a ‘commitment of stability’ to the state government.