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BATU PAHAT – Johor Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi has stressed that the Johor state election was called to return the mandate to the people and has no connection whatsoever to the issue of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's release.
Onn Hafiz said claims linking the state election to the matter were a form of provocation aimed at stirring anger and hatred towards BN.
He expressed confidence that Johoreans are mature enough to assess issues wisely and would not be easily swayed by such narratives.
"But Johoreans are not like that. We are smarter than they think.
"The more they push that narrative, the less people believe them," he said.
He was speaking to reporters after the Kasi On programme with the Johor Menteri Besar at Homestay Tok Marwan Semerah here on Monday.
Earlier, Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, during the Jelajah Johor Ke Depan programme in Tangkak on Sunday night, claimed that the Johor state election was called early solely because certain parties wanted to return to power to secure Najib's release.
Anwar said PH had no choice but to face the election to ensure the country's stability is maintained while continuing the strong cooperation between the Johor state government and the Federal Government.
Elaborating further, Onn Hafiz said incitement and making various promises have long been the opposition's strategy whenever an election is held.
"To me, that has always been their approach — provoking, provoking, provoking, while making all sorts of grand promises. That has always been their strategy, and that is the opposition's mentality," he said.
Meanwhile, Onn Hafiz said the people, particularly young voters, should not repeat the mistakes made during the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018.
He claimed that many young voters at the time had been influenced by the various promises made by the opposition.
"We do not want what happened in 2018 to happen again, when many young people were influenced by lofty promises such as free PTPTN loans, lower fuel prices and many others.
"That is why our role as parents is important in advising our children. While they are capable of making their own decisions, many young people can sometimes be influenced by provocation and sweet promises," he said.
