Umno Limits Expansion In Johor After Difficult Negotiations

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JOHOR POLLS | Umno has abandoned its desire to contest 42 seats in Johor, allowing its BN partners MCA and MIC to retain the same number of seats they contested in the 2018 general election.
However, Umno will contest two more seats than it did in the last general election after absorbing Gerakan's quota of two seats as the party is no longer part of BN.
As such, Umno will contest a total of 37 seats while MCA and MIC will maintain 15 and four seats, respectively.
Umno has appeared to have abandoned its plan to field candidates from non-BN parties aligned to the coalition, such as the Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party, Malaysian Indian United Party and Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress.
During the negotiations, MIC deputy president M Saravanan had complained that "friends of BN" parties should not come at the expense of MIC.
All in all, it was an arrangement aimed at not rocking the boat, although disappointing for Umno proponents who had expected to be able to contest in significantly more seats.
In his speech, Johor Umno chief Hasni Mohammad took pains to explain that the candidate's list was not going to make everyone happy but urged them to close ranks.
"As the saying goes, I cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs," he said during the candidates' announcement in Johor Bahru this morning.
Johor Umno chief Hasni MohammadHasni described the difficult process of the negotiations, stating Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had been in Johor to work out a solution from 10am yesterday until 3am today.
Zahid, in his speech, said 70 percent of the candidates are new faces.
While the seat quota largely remained status quo, there were some seat swaps between the component parties.
MIC surrendered Gambir to Umno in exchange for Kemelah.
Umno also took Pemanis, which previously was also contested by Gerakan.
As for MCA, it handed over Parit Yaani and Pulai Sebatang to Umno. In return, Umno gave MCA Puteri Wangsa.
MIC also gave up Skudai to MCA but was compensated with Bukit Batu, which Gerakan previously contested
Najib's man in Rengit
There were also some interesting personalities who will be contesting in the Johor polls, including Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi, a staunch backer of ex-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Najib, who is the BN advisory board chairperson, was present on stage during the candidates' announcement.
Mohd Puad is set to contest in Rengit, a state seat within the parliamentary constituency of Batu Pahat, where he served as the MP from 2008 until his defeat in 2013.
Another notable development is Onn Hafiz Ghazi, the great-grandson of Onn Jaafar, who will be moved from Layang-Layang to Machap.
PKR is set to field Maszlee Malik, who is also the Simpang Renggam MP, in Layang-Layang. Maszlee has been touted as a possible MB candidate.
Onn Hafiz won Layang-Layang with a 364-vote majority in the last general election. BN similarly won Machap by a narrow margin of a 404-vote majority in 2018.
Maszlee is now expected to face Umno's Mutalib Rahim in Layang-Layang.
Ismail Mohamed, who in the last general election was put in an awkward position after his boss Muhyiddin Yassin was sacked from Umno, will again be contesting in Bukit Kepong.
He was not fielded in the last general election amid concerns about his loyalties after Muhyiddin went on to form Bersatu and now leads the Perikatan Nasional coalition. Ismail took over the Pagoh Umno division from Muhyiddin.
Ismail served as the Bukit Kepong assemblyperson from 2013 to 2018. It was known as Bukit Serampang at the time. It is a state seat within the Pagoh parliamentary constituency of which Muhyiddin is the MP.
Hasni, expectedly, will defend his state seat of Benut.
The announcement of candidates today was only for Umno and MIC candidates. While the seats allocated to MCA were announced, their exact candidates were not.
Hasni, speaking to journalists later, said MCA needed time to finalise their lineup.
"When we were about to finalise the candidates, MCA felt the need for them to strengthen their candidates' list," he said, adding that it was not due to the seat swaps.
He added that while "Friends of BN" parties won't be contesting on a BN ticket this election, they will still help out the coalition.
The nomination day is this Saturday (Feb 26). Johoreans will go to the polls on March 12.
The full list of candidates are as follow:
N1 Buloh Kasap - Zahari Sarip (Umno)
N2 Jementah - MCA
N3 Pemanis - Annuar Manap (Umno)
N4 Kemelah - N Saraswati (MIC)
N5 Tenang - Haslinda Salleh (Umno)
N6 Bekok - MCA
N7 Bukit Kepong - Ismail Mohamad (Umno)
N8 Bukit Pasir - Mohd Fadzli Mohd Salleh (Umno)
N9 Gambir - Shah Rihan Ghani (Umno)
N10 Tangkak - MCA
N11 Serom - Khairin Nisa (Umno)
N12 Bentayan - MCA
N13 Simpang Jeram - Lokman Md Don (Umno)
N14 Bukit Naning - Fuad Tukirin (Umno)
N15 Maharani - Nur Fara Samsudin (Umno)
N16 Sungai Balang - Mohd Helmi Abd Latif (Umno)
N17 Semerah - Mohd Fared Mohd Khalid (Umno)
N18 Sri Medan - Zulkurnain Kamisan (Umno)
N19 Yong Peng - MCA
N20 Semarang - Samsolbari Jamali (Umno)
N21 Parit Yaani - Mohd Najib Samuri (Umno)
N22 Parit Raja - Nor Rashidah Ramli (Umno)
N23 Penggaram - MCA
N24 Senggarang - Mohd Yusla Ismail (Umno)
N25 Rengit - Mohd Puad Zarkashi (Umno)
N26 Machap - Onn Hafiz Ghazi (Umno)
N27 Layang-Layang - Mutalif Rahim (UMNO)
N28 Mengkibol - MCA
N29 Mahkota - Sharifah Azizah (Umno)
N30 Paloh - MCA
N31 Kahang - R Vidyananthan (MIC)
N32 Endau - YUzaimi Md Yusof (Umno)
N33 Tenggaroh - KK Raven (MIC)
N34 Panti - Hahasrin Hashim (Umno)
N35 Pasir Raja - Rashidah Ismail (Umno)
N36 Sedili - Muszaidi Makmor (Umno)
N37 Johor Lama - Norliza Noh (Umno)
N38 Penawar - Fauziah Misri (Umno)
N39 Tanjung Surat - Syed Sees Abd Rahman (Umno)
N40 Tiram - Azizul Bachok (Umno)
N41 Puteri Wangsa - MCA
N42 Johor Jaya - MCA
N43 Permas - Baharudin Mohd Taib (Umno)
N44 Larkin - Hairi Md Shah (Umno)
N45 Stulang - MCA
N46 Perling - MCA
N47 Kempas - Ramlee Bohani (Umno)
N48 Skudai - MCA
N49 Kota Iskandar - Pandak Ahmad (Umno)
N50 Bukit Permai - Mohd Hafni Shukor (Umno)
N51 Bukit Batu - S Spayyah (MIC)
N52 Senai - MCA
N53 Benut - Hasni Mohammad (Umno)
N54 Pulai Sebatang - Hasrunizah Hassan (Umno)
N55 Pekan Nanas - MCA
N56 Kukup - Jeferidin Atan (Umno)
- Mkini

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