WHILE the impending Johor elections will not tilt the power balance at federal level, it will indicate voter sentiment after two years of political turmoil.

Seven state seats that changed hands through party-hopping, some of which caused the downfall of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in 2018, can be taken as indicators of how voters feel about having had their mandate betrayed.

Johor was key to PH’s historic breakthrough in 2018, and is all the more significant as it was a strong Umno state.

While PH took 18 out of 26 parliamentary seats to cause Barisan Nasional’s (BN) collapse in Putrajaya, it also doubled its tally in the state from 16 to 36 to seize the state where Umno was born.

As a result, BN lost 18 state seats, going from 37 to just 19. PAS, which previously had three seats when it was part of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, claimed one seat.

PH’s rule in the second-most developed state in Malaysia was, however, short-lived as Bersatu’s pullout from the coalition not only toppled the federal government but also four other state governments, including Johor.

There were seven changes to the 26 federal seats in Johor.

At state level, there have also been seven changes since PH won in 2018, although not all of them caused Johor to fall to the Perikatan Nasional-BN pact.

Here’s a recap of the seven changes at state level in Johor:

3 Umno assemblymen join Bersatu

Following its 2018 win at Putrajaya, Bersatu, then part of PH, received a boost when Umno MPs, assemblymen and senators decided to switch parties by joining the Umno splinter party.

Among the first to jump ship were three assemblymen from Johor, six months after PH won.

They were Sedili and Johor Lama’s Rasman Ithnain and Rosleli Jahari who, on November 19, 2018 were officially accepted into Bersatu.

They were followed by Endau’s Alwiyah Talib on November 25. All three had resigned from Umno on May 12, 2018, just three days after BN lost the state.

At the federal level, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad (Mersing) joined the trio in Bersatu three months later.

Johor’s own ‘Sheraton move’

After the fall of PH in February 2020, Pemanis assemblyman Dr Chong Fat Full left PKR but did not join Bersatu immediately.

It was nevertheless an inevitable transfer.

It was no surprise then that the former Johor executive council member teamed up with Segamat MP Edmund Santhara Kumar and Batu Pahat MP Mohd Rashid Hasnon in the all-Malay Bersatu on August 27, 2020.

It remains to be seen whether he will be fielded in the coming state elections under Bersatu.

Chong, incidentally, was the last piece of the puzzle needed to topple the PH government in Johor.

Not everyone hopped to Bersatu

While most of the party-hopping was to Bersatu, Amanah and PKR had their own share of jumpers.

With blessings from Amanah, Senggarang’s Khairuddin Rahim confirmed that some members had seen him donning the PKR shirt before his official announcement.

“I’m not eyeing a parliamentary seat in PKR and I will leave it to the party,” said Khairuddin.

The other two assemblymen who swapped Amanah badges for PKR’s were Faizul Amri Adnan (Serom) and Muhammad Said Jonit (Mahkota).

The trio left the party for PKR in February last year. – February 10, 2022.