Barisan Nasional, on its part, will continue with its meet-and-greet strategy and social activities.
Needless to say, coalition chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is in town to campaign for the candidates.
As for caretaker Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, he has been busy and relentless in traversing around the state.
To date, he has visited more than 20 state constituencies. His target is to make at least one stop in each of the 56 constituencies before polling on July 11.
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong is due to have a packed weekend campaigning with the 15 MCA candidates.
One Barisan candidate – P. Pannir Selvam who is eyeing Perling – is said to have organised more than 12 sessions daily, going around to shake people’s hands to introduce himself as a former councillor who has worked in the area.
All 172 candidates, including six independents, have outlined a range of programmes such as walkabouts and also utilising social media to push their messages and narrative.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is expected to be in Johor over the weekend for a series of events.
He is scheduled to spend the entire Saturday meeting the Indian and Chinese communities, among others.
The Pakatan Harapan chairman is also expected to head to a mega ceramah in Bandar Baru Uda that night. That hot seat of Larkin is contested by three candidates.
Not to be outdone, PAS is organising a ceramah in Sg Balang in the north of the state on Saturday.
Other top party leaders are due to be in town, too.
Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to continue campaigning in their stronghold seats around Pagoh.
As for the poster war, it has intensified of late, especially in the urban seats south of the state which are presently held by Pakatan.
At coffee shops, people are talking about not only the possible victors and the vanquished but also what Johor needs to get done.
For instance, many lament about frequent water cuts. And they are concerned about the possibility of the situation worsening with more data centres being planned in the state.
Johor also has one of Malaysia’s largest Felda settlements with 70 schemes, covering about 30 of the 56 seats.
As such, almost all the major parties are also working hard to woo Felda settlers and rural folk.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political analyst Dr Mazlan Ali said it is obvious that the political temperature would go up over the next few days.
He is of the view that the scales are tipped in Barisan’s favour.
“This time around, the fight is clearly between Barisan and Pakatan,” he said, adding that it remains unclear whether a “Chinese wave” would happen.
The weather forecast in Johor Baru is expected to reach 30°C by 11am today but the forecast says it “feels like” 37º.
That surely can’t beat the election temperature, which will continue rising until polling day on July 11 as political rivals bring out more weapons from their armoury.
