Barisan Nasional (BN) Johor announced it will contest all 56 State Legislative Assembly seats in the upcoming Johor state election. Johor BN chairman and Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi made the announcement on May 16, citing consultations with grassroots leaders and public views as reasons. "After discussing with the party leadership, I, with a sense of full conviction and responsibility, state that Barisan Nasional Johor will contest in all 56 State Legislative Assembly seats in the upcoming State Election," he said [1].
In the 2022 Johor state election, BN won 40 seats, Pakatan Harapan (PH) 12, Perikatan Nasional 3, and Muda 1 [1]. Datuk Abdul Halim Suleiman of BN stated that contesting in Johor "will not in any way threaten the stability of the federal government in Putrajaya" [2]. PH Johor has also declared it will contest all 56 seats and regards the multiple three-cornered fights as "healthy for democracy," according to PH leader Maszlee Malik [3, 2].
Meanwhile, former ministers Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad announced on May 17 that they had taken over Parti Bersama Malaysia, a Penang-based party, and would resign from PKR. They planned to vacate their parliamentary seats in Pandan and Setiawangsa on May 18-19 [4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Rafizi said, "The right and honourable step is to return the mandate to the voters in Pandan and Setiawangsa, considering that we were elected under the Pakatan Harapan ticket in the last general election" [7].
Both submitted resignation letters to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul on May 18. The Speaker confirmed receipt and said any by-election decisions lie with the Election Commission (EC) [9, 8]. Parliamentary specialist Maha Balakrishnan noted the Speaker has discretion to call by-elections if it affects government majority [9].
PKR, however, accuses Rafizi and Nik Nazmi of party hopping, claiming they joined Parti Bersama Malaysia before resigning, violating party rules. PKR secretary general Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh said, "I have evidence that they have already joined Bersama, as indicated on the party’s website with a timestamp on the 17th. According to the party constitution, they have already defected on that date before vacating their (parliamentary) seats today" and is reviewing enforcement of a RM10 million bond against them [10]. Rafizi and Nik Nazmi deny party hopping, stating they resigned from Parliament prior to leaving PKR [7].
The Dewan Rakyat Speaker has forwarded the MPs' resignations to the EC, which will determine whether by-elections will be held for the Pandan and Setiawangsa seats [8].
