In recent weeks, PM Anwar has been forced to weigh in on UMNO’s calculated fractures to his Unity Government.
At a PH convention on May 17 in the Johor capital of Johor Bahru, Anwar declared his government’s readiness to “fight seriously” and characterised the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional (BN) manoeuvres as approaching betrayal. He also raised the spectre of calling nationwide snap polls, which are not due until February 2028.
But Anwar’s tough words have not stopped UMNO from flexing its muscles through the sequential dissolutions of Johor and Negeri Sembilan state assemblies this week.
WHY NOW?
The term of Johor state assembly only expires in April 2027.
But on Jun 1, Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi dissolved the assembly after an audience with the Acting Sultan of Johor, Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim. UMNO and BN also declared that the coalition would contest in all the 56 seats, effectively treating PH alliance parties as electoral adversaries.
The electoral mathematics in Johor favour UMNO’s aggressive positioning for the upcoming polls that must be called in 60 days.
Before the dissolution, UMNO dominated the state assembly with a two-thirds majority through the 40 seats under its control.
Typically, standalone state elections produce lower voter turnout (only 54 per cent in the last state polls in 2022) and disproportionately benefit incumbent machinery and established party structures.
Against this backdrop, UMNO sources said the party is also considering declaring snap elections in neighbouring Melaka, another stronghold which must dissolve the state assembly before December.
By accelerating the contests in these two states rather than allowing them to proceed to their natural deadlines, UMNO effectively denies Anwar PH the time to consolidate its organisational presence in the party’s traditional bastions.
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