JOHOR BARU: An early 16th General Election (GE16) is unlikely to be called following Barisan Nasional's landslide victory in the Johor state election, says Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (pic).
The PAS deputy president said the outcome of the Johor polls suggested the Federal Government would likely continue its administration until close to the end of its term to capitalise on its current advantage.
"From the overall results of the Johor state election, I see a strong possibility that the 16th General Election will not be held in the near future," he said in a statement on Sunday (July 12).
Tuan Ibrahim also said Barisan's commanding victory would strengthen the coalition's influence in shaping the direction and policies of the federal government.
He said PAS accepted the people's verdict after Perikatan Nasional failed to defend the three Johor state seats it previously held.
He said the coalition would conduct a comprehensive post-mortem to identify weaknesses, particularly in organisational coordination, the strength of its election machinery and internal unity, ahead of future elections, including the Negri Sembilan state polls.
"Although PAS and Perikatan Nasional were unsuccessful in defending the three seats won previously, the people's decision must be accepted with an open heart and used as the basis for self-reflection and correcting our weaknesses," he said.
Tuan Ibrahim also claimed the election showed Pakatan had yet to regain public confidence despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim actively campaigning throughout the state election.
He also questioned whether Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming would honour his reported pledge to resign if Pakatan failed to meet its target in the Johor election.
Nga was reported to have said that he would be the first minister to resign if Umno secured a landslide victory in the polls and former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was released.
On the performance of newer political parties, Tuan Ibrahim said Parti Bersama Malaysia and Muda had yet to emerge as convincing alternatives for voters, adding that multi-cornered contests had split opposition votes and benefited Barisan.
