Johor’s People Power

Had it not been for the electoral swing in Johor in 2018, Datuk Seri Najib Razak might still be the Prime Minister of Malaysia in 2026. The state was Barisan Nasional’s bastion.

In the last two rounds of constituency redelineations, in 1993 and 2003 respectively, the state that saw the largest increase in the number of parliamentary seats in the Peninsula was Johor.

It has 26 parliamentary seats, against Sarawak’s 31, Sabah’s 25, and Selangor’s 22, despite Selangor having a far larger registered voter size than Johor.

After more than three decades of hiatus of having an opposition Member of Parliament from Johor, DAP managed to win one seat in the 2008 general election. In 2013, with the beginning of the wind of change in the state, DAP gained four out of five seats won by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat. And, most significantly, in 2018, Pakatan Harapan won 18 parliamentary seats.

On 9 May 2018, the whole country saw the end of the Najib era when Pakatan Harapan won 113 seats, one additional seat needed to cross the threshold for a majority in the 222-seat Parliament.

In other words, without that 18 parliamentary seats from Johor, Najib would likely still be the Prime Minister to this day, and no one will know what the outcome of the 1MDB mega scandal would be.

It was the Johor people’s power that helped herald a better Malaysia since 2018.

It is quite unfortunate that the current Johor state election has been turned by the state Barisan Nasional as a battle between the forces nostalgic of the Najib era and Pakatan Harapan’s move to bring Johor and Malaysia forward.

It is my fervent hope that, against all odds, the Johor people’s power will prevail on 11 July, for a better Johor and Malaysia.