JOHOR BARU: The new Johor Umno leadership is giving its full support to the state government under Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
State Umno chief Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said a secretariat had been formed comprising representatives from Johor Umno and the state government to ensure that the two groups work together to benefit the people.
"We realise that the current (state) government was formed by Umno and without the party, they will not be there.
"Based on this, we have decided to set up a secretariat that includes representatives from both the state government and Johor Umno.
"They will sit down and discuss things that can further strengthen the position of the party in the state government and carry out initiatives to benefit the people," he said after chairing the Johor Umno meeting at its headquarters here in Johor Baru on Saturday (April 1).
He said that Johor Umno secretary Datuk Abdul Halim Suleiman, treasurer Datuk Zulkurnain Kamisan and information chief Datuk Md Jais Sarday would represent the party in the secretariat while state executive councillors Datuk Zahari Sarip, Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor and Mohd Hairi Mad Shah will represent the Johor government.
Khaled, who is also Umno vice-president, said that the new state party leadership's focus was to win back the trust of the Malays for the party.
"We will make sure that Umno rises again and this can be done by supporting party leaderships that received mandates to lead (respective states)," he said.
On Thursday (March 30), Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the establishment of a unity government in Melaka may not necessarily happen in other states such as Johor.
He added that this was because of the political situation in Melaka, which had nothing to do with the political situation in other states.
Johor Umno was previously led by former mentri besar Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad before being replaced with Khaled in January following a late-night party supreme council meeting that also saw two members being sacked and several others suspended.
Earlier this month, Johor Umno carried out elections for 25 out of its 26 divisions.
The election saw a change in leadership in 10 divisions.
The Johor Baru Umno division election was postponed following claims that there were more votes cast compared to the actual number of voters.
