Johor BN accepts outcome of GE14
State chairman Khaled says he is looking forward to the challenge as Opposition chief
JOHOR BARU: Johor Barisan Nasional accepts the outcome of the general election, which saw this bastion state fall to Pakatan Harapan.
State Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the coalition accepted the people’s decision with an open heart.
“They have spoken and in a democratic country like ours, we have to respect their voices,” he told a press conference at Johor Umno headquarters here yesterday.
The former mentri besar, who appeared calm and composed, thanked Johor Barisan members, supporters and election machinery for their commitment and efforts.
“You have done your best and worked hard,” said Khaled.
He also congratulated Pakatan Harapan on its win and looked forward to a smooth transition of the state leadership.
Asked if issues at national level contributed to Pakatan capturing the state, Khaled declined to comment.
On his loss in both the Pasir Gudang parliamentary and Permas state seats, he replied “there could be a hidden message behind that”.
Pontian Umno division chief Datuk Hasni Mohamed felt that Umno lost the state and federal governments as the party had disengaged with the masses and failed to understand the expectations of the public.
He said Umno leaders only spoke to their own people and machinery instead of listening to the voters.
“I expected us to lose some seats but did not foresee this,” he said.
Hasni, the only state executive councillor to have survived in GE14, said Barisan’s 19 assemblymen would need to wait for instructions from the leadership before taking on their new role as the opposition in the state assembly.
“We have been ruling for 60 years. We have to accept the reality that we are no longer in power. Let's wait for our top leaders to give instructions,” he added.
He noted that Umno would need to do a post-mortem of the situation.
Asked if he would be Barisan’s
Opposition leader in Johor, Hasni said he did not have a problem taking up the challenge.
Pakatan won 36 of the state’s 56 seats while PAS won one.