The cost of over-confidence
PETALING JAYA: To capture a state that has been a Barisan Nasional (BN) fortress since Malaysia’s inception is a big task, but to win with almost twice the number of BN seats is unthinkable.
As the coalition’s Pulai candidate Datuk Nur Jazlan confidently puts it a month before polling: “Johor will remain BN’s bastion”.
But on May 10 at 1.50am, when the results were announced by the Election Commission (EC), Johoreans had proved that they longed for a change.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) won 36 of the total 56 state seats on offer compared with BN’s 19 and PAS’s one, doubling that of their 18 seats in the 2013 general election, subsequently ensuring BN’s first ever defeat.
This begs the question, what did PH do right and what did BN do wrong that resulted in such a shocking turn of tide?
At a national scale, it will be hard to argue that issues of corruption within the federal government, the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) and the influence of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had contributed much to the vote swing.
But in the local scene, perhaps, this was down to BN’s over-confidence.
Outgoing mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin had repeatedly brushed off notions of PH’s influence in the state, claiming that the opposition coalition would not be able to trigger a Malay tsunami in Johor.
Mohamed Khaled had failed to gauge the full capability of PH’s dynamic duo in the state – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
The pair, who soothed the sentiment of the rakyat with their “mentor-protege” impression, are seen as formidable partners, attracting sizeable crowds to every ceramah they attended together, and garnering the loudest hoorahs.
This came as no surprise, considering Muhyiddin’s vast fan-base since serving as the state’s mentri besar three decades ago, and Syed Saddiq’s capability to carry himself despite his young age and his appeal to youths.
This Muhyiddin-Syed Saddiq combination was overlooked by the BN camp, and this cost them dearly.