Johor’s Menteri Besar (chief minister) Onn Hafiz Ghazi has called on eligible voters in the Mahkota state assembly by-election to return to Johor from Singapore to vote this coming Saturday, Sep. 28.

The Johor state assembly seat of Mahkota became vacant after incumbent Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain passed away in August 2024.

By-election and coalition

The by-election has become highly symbolic and is perceived as a test of unity between the Malaysian government's two major components: Pakatan Harapan (PH), and Barisan Nasional (BN).

Johor’s state assembly is decisively controlled by BN, who hold 40 out of 56 seats, well over two-thirds of the assembly.

The aftermath of the December 2022 general election saw former rivals PH and BN come together at the federal level to form the current Unity government.

Electoral limbo

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that campaigning in the area has begun to focus on the areas with significant numbers of Malaysian Chinese in the electorate.

FMT estimates that only eight of the 18 regions of the electoral districts favour the BN-backed candidate, with the remaining 10 being in limbo.

But a rift between a UMNO youth leader, part of BN, and a Democratic Action Party (DAP), part of PH, leader has led some Chinese voters in Mahkota to consider a boycott of the election.

This is despite urgings by leaders from both UMNO and DAP to consider the spat a personal matter, not an inter-party conflict.

However, some voters that FMT spoke to said that they maintained a good opinion of the BN candidate Syed Hussein Syed Abdullah, and would turn out to vote for him.

The by-election is a straight fight between Syed Hussein and opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Haizan Jaafar.

Fully manned customs counters

But BN leaders are understandably reluctant to take chances.

Johor’s chief minister, Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who is also BN’s election director for the by-election, has appealed directly to the Chinese community to vote.

On Sep. 25, he also posted a video on social media encouraging voters working in or residing in Singapore to return to Johor to vote.

@onnhafiz Buat semua pengundi DUN Mahkota yang bekerja dan merantau ke Singapura, saya menyeru dan merayu agar pulanglah ke DUN Mahkota pada 28 September ini, Sabtu ini untuk memenangkan calon Barisan Nasional, Saudara Syed Hussien, Calon No. 1 N.29 Mahkota. Dengan sokongan dan semangat solidariti daripada semua, saya pasti ia akan memberi mesej penting berkenaan kestabilan politik di Johor dalam membangunkan dan memajukan lagi negeri Johor dan DUN Mahkota yang kita semua cintai ini. Selamat pulang dan selamat mengundi buat semua! Ayuh kita suburkan sistem demokrasi negara dan pertahankan #MahkotaKita ! #UndilahBarisanNasional #BarisanNasional #BNJohor #MajuJohor #BangsaJohor #MahkotaKita ♬ original sound - Onn Hafiz

According to the Malay Mail, Onn Hafiz said he had contacted the Malaysian Immigration Department and ensured that all the immigration counters at both land crossings in Johor Bahru and the Second Link would be open, starting from Sep. 27 until Sep. 28.

This was to "further smoothen the return journey of voters", as it was important to help voters in the by-election to "fulfil their responsibilities".

He urged the thousands of voters working in Singapore to return to vote, saying that every vote was important to strengthen Malaysia's democratic system.

Such appeals for a return to vote have been made previously, such as in 2018, when Singaporeans avoided the Causeway, ostensibly to help Malaysians return home to vote.

SEZ who?

A commentary published by Fulcrum suggested that PAS victory in Mahkota might be troublesome for Onn Hafiz, as it might encourage a challenge to plans by both the state and federal government to implement a Special Economic Zone in Johor.

This SEZ would target Singapore and Singaporean companies as major partners in economic investments in the state.

Onn Hafiz has been vocal in promoting the opportunities afforded by a potential SEZ, even going so far as speaking at the National University of Singapore Society’s 70th-anniversary lecture.

There he touted measures that both the state and federal government would implement, as well as promising that interested businesses would have plenty of assistance in setting up the proposed SEC.

Showing appreciation

Onn Hafiz has been particularly vocal about easing the daily commute made by over 300,000 Johoreans who travel daily to Singapore for work.

He reminded them that his state government, with the assistance of the central government, has made many efforts to facilitate those commutes.

This included improving public transportation, increasing the number of open counters available, more immigration officers, as well as upgrading infrastructure and systems.

The Malay Mail quoted him calling on voters to return briefly to show “our solidarity for the efforts made all this while”.

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Top image via @onnhafiz/Tiktok