Don’t Take the People of Johor for Granted

Why is Dato’ Onn Hafiz, Menteri Besar of Johor making mistakes after mistakes by putting himself at the level of UMNO “cybertroper”?

First, misreading of the March 2022 Johor state election results

I find those who make predictions on Barisan Nasional’s performance are forgetting the fact that BN got its 40 seats in March 2022 due to a very low turnout during the Covid-19 pandemic era of no border crossing, preventing voters who resided in Singapore from returning to vote. The results of the November 2022 general election, however, in which BN only won 9 seats out of 26 parliamentary seats in Johor, was clear indication that the earlier state election results are not to be counted on for serious simulation.

Second, BN going solo

BN and Pakatan Harapan have a cordial relationship at the national level in the Unity Government. Cooperation between the two coalitions are also good at the state level. However, out of the blue, Onn Hafiz announced that BN would be going solo. His announcement was made in a rather hostile manner on 16 May, on the eve of the PH convention in Johor Bahru the next day, displaying the arrogant side of him and Johor BN. Unwittingly, he helped PH supporters to rally around the coalition to consolidate support.

Third, dissolving the Johor state assembly prematurely

It is clear to observers that national BN leaders were not ready for the dissolution of the Johor state assembly on 1 June. Internal BN sources shared the view that their top leaders were frustrated with the premature dissolution.

Fourth, “not sitting with DAP” declaration

At the launch of BN’s election machinery on 7 June, Onn Hafiz scored an own goal when he began resorting to the UMNO cybertropers’ old tropes such as labelling the DAP as “extremists”, “communists”, and “anti-Malay party”. He probably thought such allegations would make him look like a hero among the Malays.

He has probably also been advised by MCA to be harsher in his attacks because they believed that DAP and PH are now hated by Chinese voters.

Apparently, when the official campaign began, his tough line on DAP seemed to have backfired. Truth be told, Onn Hafiz has worked well with Sdr Anthony Loke and Sdr Gobind Singh, both senior Ministers and top DAP leaders, He has also worked with me, and Johor Opposition Leader Sdr Andrew Chen Ka Eng for four years. While we didn’t agree on everything, our relationships were considerably warm.

So, why is he suddenly behaving like an UMNO cybertrooper? Is he so desperate that all his plans may not materialise?

Fifth, de facto alliance with PAS

Another act of self-sabotage for Onn Hafiz is to enter into a de facto relationship with UMNO’s oldest rival PAS. He seems to believe that the union of UMNO and PAS is what the Malays want.

He should have learned that in 2018, the then Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak had worked with PAS in an attempt to swing the Malay votes against PH, but it failed horribly.

Malay voters actually saw through it. In central and southern Peninsula states, voters ditched PAS to protest against Najib and BN. On the east coast, PAS managed to switch tactics and copied PH’s anti-Najib message. Hence, the reason Malay votes went to PAS in the east coast states was because they too were angry with Najib and BN.

In Johor, there are not many PAS diehard supporters. The sizable number of Malay voters who voted for Perikatan Nasional in 2022 was to support Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to become prime minister again.

Therefore, in this 2026 state election, why should anti-UMNO Malay voters choose BN over PH just because Tan Sri Hadi Awang said so?

By aligning with PAS, Onn Hafiz has alienated the middle ground and eliminated the third option. If one is not happy with UMNO and BN, he or she would now either stay home or vote for PH.

Sixth, anti-federal rhetorics

I watched the video of Onn Hafiz’s speeches during this final week of the campaign.

In one speech, he attacked PH for allegedly failing to fulfill the promises of lowering oil prices, removing GST to reduce inflation, and removal of PTPTN. I was surprised because these are very petty accusations, usually spewed by cybertroopers.

As far as PTPTN is concerned, I am not sure if he knows that it is under the purview of the Higher Education Minister, who is a senior leader of UMNO. As far as petrol prices are concerned, the whole nation enjoys BUDI, and many Malaysians understand that BUDI has helped Malaysians to weather the storms of the Iran war. And campaigning for the return of the GST and to assume that the majority of Johoreans want it to be resurrected is probably advised by MCA leaders, and not a very smart move.

Onn Hafiz wanted to shape a “Johor versus federal” heroic fight on behalf of an imagined Johor nationalism. He is paddling “Johor being sidelined” trope, which is easily debunked as Johor benefited the most of all big ticket federal spendings in the past 3 years under the MADANI Government.

Seventh, a presidential-style campaign focusing on Onn Hafiz

Prior to the election, Onn Hafiz had a relatively good image among Johoreans as evident from most of the polls available. But his current blunders and mistakes made multiracial voters see him as an arrogant leader who looks down on other people.

Johoreans are carrying this perception of the snobbish Onn, BN’s poster boy, into the polling booth this Saturday. BN will probably pay a high price for his attitude of taking the Johor voters for granted.