PETALING JAYA: Campaigns for five of the 16 seats being contested by Bersatu in Johor polls are now at risk following the estrangement from coalition partner PAS.
The seats are Kemelah, Bukit Pasir, Serom, Senggarang and Tenggaroh, several of which were narrowly lost to Barisan Nasional.
In 2022, PAS was the main challenger to Barisan in three of the five constituencies.
It secured 42.78% of the vote in Tenggaroh, losing by a 1,356-vote majority.
In Serom, PAS obtained 35.24% of the votes and lost by 699 votes, while in Bukit Pasir it was defeated by a margin of just 198 votes.
In Kemelah, PAS obtained 4,639 votes but lost by 1,611 votes, while in Senggarang it secured 5,624 votes or 26.09% of the total before losing by 3,912 votes.
Although the Islamist party did not win any of the seats, analysts note that it retains a core base of supporters in these areas.
The contests are effectively three-cornered fights between Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan and Bersatu, with the key question being whether PAS voters will transfer their support to Bersatu or stay away from the polls.
On June 27, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said the party would not lift a finger for Bersatu in the campaign.
The two parties ended their political cooperation on June 8 but remain under the Perikatan Nasional umbrella. They are now running separate campaigns, each deploying its own machinery.
Bersatu information chief Datuk Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz declined to disclose the party’s strategy for holding the five seats without PAS support.
“Strategy ... We don’t discuss openly,” he said, when asked how Bersatu planned to replace PAS’ ground machinery.
Perikatan chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar had previously said each component party is fully responsible for its own candidates, machinery and campaign performance in the seats it contests.
PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the parties would operate independently on the ground.
The arrangement is unusual for a coalition that has long drawn strength from a combined Malay-Muslim base.
PAS previously provided disciplined election machinery and deep grassroots networks that helped boost Perikatan’s performance in rural Malay-majority seats in 2022.
In that election, Barisan won 40 of Johor’s 56 seats for a two-thirds majority.
Pakatan Harapan secured 12, Perikatan three and Muda one.
Political analyst Azmil Tayeb of Universiti Sains Malaysia said a fragmented coalition would struggle to inspire voter confidence.
“It also doesn’t allow for a common agenda to campaign on.
“Voters look for substance rather than just a poor alternative to what they don’t like,” he said.
In the July 11 Johor polls, under the Perikatan banner, Bersatu is defending Endau and Bukit Kepong, and fielding candidates in 14 other seats.
PAS is contesting 11 seats, followed by the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (five) and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (one).
