Negeri Sembilan, not Johor, real test of unity govt’s stability, says Azalina

KUALA LUMPUR: Next month’s Negeri Sembilan state election is seen as a more suitable test to assess whether the stability of the unity government at the federal level could be affected, says Umno information chief Azalina Othman Said.

Azalina said the Johor state election should not be used as a benchmark for the strength of the federal governing coalition in Putrajaya as the two states have different political landscapes.

“No, Johor is not like that. I think we need to look at (the results in) Negeri Sembilan because they (Pakatan Harapan) have many seats there.

“Negeri Sembilan is different. Johor cannot be used as a test case. Negeri Sembilan should be the test case,” the law and institutional minister told a press conference at the Asian International Arbitration Centre here today.

She was commenting on whether the Johor election result could threaten the cohesion of the unity government, including its support in the Dewan Rakyat.

According to Azalina, the number of seats held by PH in Negeri Sembilan made the state more significant to watch than Johor.

“PH has many seats in Negeri Sembilan. If they don’t win many seats there, I don’t know what reaction there would be. Johor cannot be compared because it is different,” she said.

In the 2023 state election, PH won 17 seats while Barisan Nasional secured 14 seats in Negeri Sembilan, giving both coalitions a combined two-thirds super majority with 31 of the 36 seats.

However, both PH and BN will now contest all 36 seats separately in the on Aug 1.

Azalina also said BN is confident of securing enough seats in the Johor election to form the state government.

She said the actual number of seats won was not the main concern as long as BN regained the people’s mandate to govern the state.

BN and PH are contesting all 56 state seats in Johor on July 11, with early voting scheduled for tomorrow.