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FORMER Umno Youth Chief, Khairy Jamaluddin, described the Johor State Election (PRN) as the best field to test the strength of Barisan Nasional (BN) by contesting solo.
Khairy, who is also the former Health Minister, said that in this way, BN would be able to assess the party's strength.
"The General Election (GE) is now just over a year away. We will hear the drumbeat of the State Election (PRN) in the South soon, and the possible dissolution of the Johor State Legislative Assembly (DUN).
"In my opinion, we will test the true strength of BN and Umno by contesting solo in the Johor PRN. We will see how strong the party is, while the question of the GE is another matter and needs to be discussed later.
"I have that view because Johor is not a Unity Government, but a BN government and what we want to do is to defend the existing government.
"If the Johor PRN results are good, we will take it to the next Malacca PRN and other states," he said when speaking at Umno Ketereh today.
Khairy stressed that Umno needs to be good to all parties, though they are contesting each other in the elections.
"Look for friends, don't look for enemies. "Umno's advantage is that we can talk to everyone," he said.
Previously, Umno President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported to have insisted that discussions on the Johor state election would only be held after obtaining the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, and the Regent of Johor, Tunku Mahkota Ismail.
He said that whether the Johor state election would be held earlier than the Melaka state election would also be discussed with the Johor Menteri Besar, Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi. – May 16, 2026
