Perikatan Nasional Suffers Total Wipeout in Johor Election

JOHOR BAHRU, July 11 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) suffered a catastrophic crushing defeat in the 16th Johor State Election tonight after failing to capture even a single constituency out of the 33 state seats it contested.

The opposition coalition deployed a total of 33 candidates across the state, comprising 16 representatives from Bersatu, 11 from PAS, five from the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP), and one from Pejuang.

According to the official election results published on the Election Commission (EC) portal, PN not only failed to expand its legislative footprint but completely lost its existing foothold, surrendering the three state seats it had previously secured during the 2022 Johor state polls—namely Bukit Kepong, Maharani, and Endau.

In the high-stakes battle for Bukit Kepong, former Johor Menteri Besar and state Bersatu chief Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal failed to defend his seat. He was unseated by Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Ahmad Syar’e Yusof in a fierce three-cornered contest that also featured Pakatan Harapan (PH) challenger C. Subramani.

A parallel upset materialized in Maharani, where PN’s frontline candidate Mohamad Anuar Hayan failed to retain the seat for the coalition. The constituency had previously been won by PAS’s Abdul Aziz Talib in the 2022 election cycle.

Meanwhile, the battle for Endau saw PN candidate Hasnul Hakimi Hussein fail to defend the seat against Alwiyah Talib, who successfully held the constituency under the Barisan Nasional banner. In a unique political twist, Alwiyah had originally won the Endau seat in the 2022 state election while campaigning under the Perikatan Nasional ticket before shifting her alignment.

Following the definitive completion of the ballot counting, Barisan Nasional successfully retained the Johor State Government in a historic landslide, commanding 48 state seats to form a secure administration. Pakatan Harapan managed to secure the remaining eight seats.

Alternative third-party forces—including Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama), the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA), Parti Orang Asli Malaysia, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), and all participating Independent candidates—were similarly shut out, failing to secure any legislative representation in the state assembly.

-NMT