With polling day in Johor five days away, the contest has turned into something uglier than a normal state election. Both the governing Barisan Nasional and the challenger Pakatan Harapan are leaning hard on race to hold their base, and it is happening in the open, not in whispers.
Part of the reason is structural. Analysts note that the Chinese-dominant Democratic Action Party and UMNO, both partners in the federal Madani government, have deliberately distanced themselves from each other during this state campaign, each trying to shore up their own core voters even though they sit in the same cabinet in Putrajaya. That kind of contradiction, being allies nationally and rivals on the ground, is exactly the sort of thing that pushes campaigns toward ethnic mobilisation rather than policy debate.
Johor matters beyond its own borders too. Onn Hafiz Ghazi's BN government has overseen a genuine investment boom, with the state pulling in a record RM110 billion in foreign direct investment last year on the back of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone. A strong BN win here would be read nationally as proof the coalition can convert good governance into votes, which is exactly the momentum it wants heading into the next general election.
But the flip side is that BN's 2022 landslide of 40 out of 56 state seats did not carry over cleanly to the general election a few months later, when its Johor haul shrank to just nine out of 26 parliamentary seats. So even a repeat landslide this time would not be a guaranteed preview of what happens nationally. The field is also more crowded now, with new parties like Bersama and Muda potentially splitting votes in ways nobody can fully predict yet.
What makes this round different is how openly race is being used as a mobilising tool rather than an undertone. Whether that is a temporary flare-up tied to a tight contest or a sign of where Malaysian politics is heading again is something we will only really know after the votes are counted on 11 July.
My Opinion
Honestly, this is the part of Malaysian politics that never gets old, in the worst way. Every few years we tell ourselves we have moved past race-based campaigning, and then election season rolls around and suddenly everyone remembers which community they are supposed to be defending. I get that Johor has real stakes, RM110 billion in investment is not small change, but dragging race into it just to squeeze out a few more percentage points feels lazy. We deserve a campaign fought on cost of living, jobs, and whether the state government actually delivers, not on who can out-shout the other on identity politics.
Ronny M (ronny76netstuff@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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