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JOHOR BARU – It was as if the war sirens had been sounded with Johor suddenly waking up to a hive of activities after two days of quiet and joyful Chinese New Year celebrations.
The state has turned lively again with various political activities, although the date for the state election has not been set yet.
The Election Commission (EC) is scheduled to meet only this Wednesday (February 9) to decide on the important dates for the election, but political parties have been observed starting their campaign to win the hearts of Johor voters.
Some political party leaders said it was too long a wait for the EC to set the date for the election, given that the state assembly was dissolved on January 22 – more than two weeks ago.
Many leaders from component parties in Barisan Nasional (BN), Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH), as well as newer parties such as the Muda and Warisan, have been on the ground since last Friday through the organising of various events.
The BN coalition started with the launch of its western region election machinery in Iskandar Puteri on that day. The event was attended by several top leaders in Umno, MCA and MIC, including BN chairman and Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The coalition is also scheduled to launch its election machinery in four more zones in the next two weeks, beginning with the northern zone at the Seri Pekembar Complex in Pagoh tonight.
Umno information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan, when asked about the high-spiritedness of political parties, even though the EC had not set the date for the election yet, said it reflected how important the Johor election is to the political parties concerned.
“Although the date has not been announced, although we are still not clear yet on the standard operating procedures, but we are already on the ground, “ he said when met yesterday.
Meanwhile, Bersatu started its campaign with its “Jelajah Penerangan Isu Semasa” programme, which is led by Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan, in Muar five days ago, followed by a series of tours in Kluang and Pontian, besides launching its machinery in several areas.
As for PH, its chairman and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had attended several events, including launching Keadilan Youth election machinery, when he was in Johor for two days.
In his speech at one of the events, Anwar called on PH machinery to work even harder from now on without thinking about who their candidates would be.
“The thing to do now is to get the machinery for the state election ready, we have a few more days (before the EC announces the date),” he said.
DAP is also going on the aggressive, having named Johor DAP vice-chairman Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali, who is the incumbent Paloh assemblyman, as its candidate who will contest under the PH ticket.
As for Muda, which was only registered last year and is led by former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, as its president, the party is organising various activities in an effort to win the hearts of the voters, especially the young people.
What is certain is that all parties are seen working hard to ensure their victory in the state election, especially with Johor becoming the first state to see the implementation of automatic voter registration and Undi18, which means an increase of 28% or 749,731 voters to a total of 2.599 million.
Despite the “enthusiasm” by all parties to campaign, it is important that they comply with the stipulated standard operating procedures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
The EC is expected to announce the date of the Johor polls after a special meeting this Wednesday (February 9). – Bernama, February 6, 2022