The new Johor Baru Umno division chief Datuk Yahya Jaafar (left) with the Umno Youth deputy chief Mohd Hairi Mad Shah (right) at the Johor Baru division election that was held at Berjaya Waterfront Hotel, Johor Baru.
JOHOR BARU: Umno Youth deputy chief Mohd Hairi Mad Shah has lost the Johor Baru division chief’s post election, which has been postponed since March 18.
The Larkin assemblyman and Umno supreme council member lost to former Johor Baru Umno deputy division chief Datuk Yahya Jaafar.
The unofficial results showed that Mohd Hairi got 260 votes, while Yahya received 296 votes from the 556 division members who cast their votes at the Berjaya Waterfront Hotel here on Saturday (May 27).
The voting process started at 10am without any hiccups, and the vote counting process started at 11am.
Speaking about his defeat, Mohd Hairi said that he will continue to serve the people based on the other positions he held and take this loss as a lesson for him to improve his services.
“This is the normal outcome in every election; there will be winners and losers, and despite this loss, I still have other responsibilities that have been entrusted to me and I will carry them out to the best of my abilities,” he said.
The Johor Youth, Sports, Entrepreneurial Development, Cooperatives, and Human Resources committee chairman said that he hopes the new chief will be able to carry out the hopes and dreams of those in Johor Baru, especially those of the youth
Meanwhile, Yahya said that his main agenda right now is to focus on strengthening the party and the cooperation between the other political parties under the unity government.
“We are looking at the upcoming state elections in six other states and preparing for the 16th General Election (GE16), so the main focus right now is strengthening ourselves,” said Yahya.
“At the Johor Baru level, I plan to revive the Malay Belt Agenda that was introduced by former Johor Baru MP Tan Sri Shahrir Samad; this focuses on ensuring that Malays are able to live and afford houses in the area,” he said.
The Malay Belt Agenda plans on providing affordable homes to the Malay in areas such as Stulang Laut, Larkin, Kampung Melayu Majidee, and Bandar Baru Uda, he added.
Earlier, the Johor Baru Umno division election was postponed from March 18 to May 27 following allegations that ballot papers exceeded the number of delegates present.
Mohd Hairi and Yahya had vied for the division chief’s post, which was previously held by Shahrir for four decades.
On April 1, party vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin was reported to have said that the division's election process would be handled by the state liaison committee.
Previously, it was handled by the Umno election committee.
