The Johor state legislative assembly in Malaysia was dissolved on June 1 after Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi obtained consent from Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, ending the current legislative term early [1, 2, 3, 4]. The cancellation of the assembly’s scheduled sitting on June 22 was announced following the dissolution [5].
Johor's 16th state election must be held within 60 days from the dissolution, setting a deadline of July 31, 2026, for the polls [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 4]. Onn Hafiz Ghazi described the dissolution as a step to "allow the people of Johor to elect a new state government and obtain a fresh mandate to continue the state’s development agenda" [1]. He also said the Election Commission will now undertake the process to determine nomination, early voting, and polling dates [1].
Currently, Barisan Nasional (BN) holds a two-thirds supermajority in the 56-seat Johor state assembly with 40 seats [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. BN plans to contest all 56 seats independently in the coming election despite being federal partners with Pakatan Harapan (PH) [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. PH holds 12 seats, Perikatan Nasional (PN) 3, and the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance 1 [6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
Johor PN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Sahruddin Jamal said their party has finalized about 80% of seat allocations and will contest all 56 state seats. The allocation includes parties such as MIPP, Muda, and Ikatan Prihatin Rakyat (IPR) [11].
The dissolution comes amid rising tensions between BN and its federal coalition partner PH, following BN’s withdrawal of support in the Negeri Sembilan state assembly in April, which caused PH to lose its majority there [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. PH has threatened to dissolve the Negeri Sembilan assembly after that political fallout [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. On May 31, Marina Ibrahim, a DAP assemblywoman representing the PH stronghold of Skudai, announced she would quit politics ahead of the election [6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
The Election Commission will hold a special meeting soon after receiving official notification of the dissolution to determine key election dates [4]. The official polling, nomination, and early voting dates will be announced following this meeting.
