JOHOR BARU: At least 14 seats will be keenly contested in upcoming state polls, as they were won with a slim majority of fewer than 2,000 votes in the previous election.
Top of the list of hot seats will be Bukit Batu – PKR’s only seat in Johor, which was won with a razor-thin majority of 137 votes in the 15th state election.
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This is followed by Bukit Pasir (198 votes), Parit Yaani (294) and Tangkak (372).
Five of the seats will also decide the political fate of some leaders.
They are Johor Bersatu chief Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal (Bukit Kepong), Johor MIC chief K. Raven Kumar (Tenggaroh), incumbent executive councillor Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh (Bukit Pasir), state MIC wanita chief N. Saraswathy (Kemelah) and Johor DAP treasurer Ng Kor Sim (Jementah).
They all had won their seats by a slim majority in the last election.
Assoc Prof Dr Md Akbal Abdullah of Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia said for these seats, it is not just about the number of votes they won in the past but also the personalities contesting.
“For instance, Bukit Kepong is an important seat because it was won by the state Bersatu leader who was also the former Johor mentri besar. Bukit Pasir and Tenggaroh held exco posts,” he said when contacted.
He cited Maharani and Puteri Wangsa as other seats to watch as they are PAS’ and Muda’s sole seats in Johor respectively.
He said political parties would need to work on fielding their best candidates, especially to win in these marginal seats.
“The campaign period will be vital, especially to win over the fence sitters there,” he said.
On talk that caretaker Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi is eyeing to win 50 out of the 56 seats for Barisan Nasional, Md Akbal said a more realistic figure would be 45.
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He said voter turnout would play a key factor in the outcome of this election.
Political analyst Assoc Prof Dr Mazlan Ali opined that the situation of hot seats now was different compared to the state polls four years ago, especially due to low voter turnout because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“At that time, the voter turnout was about 54%. Many voters who were working in Singapore did not come back to vote,” he said.
Mazlan said outstation voters might not want to return due to the high cost involved.
“However, if Negri Sembilan also holds an election, people will view this as a major election. This might be a push factor for people to travel to vote,” he said.
