Johor: The principle of power sharing, which forms the foundation of Barisan Nasional's (BN) struggle, requires sacrifice and steadfast loyalty from every component party to preserve political stability and strengthen cooperation within the coalition. Johor BN chairman Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi emphasized the importance of this principle, highlighting the consistent support from the UMNO machinery for its component party candidate from MIC for the Tenggaroh seat over four decades.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Johor Menteri Besar remarked on the unwavering loyalty shown by Tenggaroh UMNO, which, despite repeated unsuccessful attempts to contest the seat, has remained committed to the coalition and its shared objectives. At the Mersing BN Machinery Meeting at Taman Lautan Biru, Onn Hafiz stated, 'For 40 years, UMNO had sought this (Tenggaroh) seat and every election, failed to get it. However, UMNO never sulked and continued fighting for BN. Tenggaroh remained loyal to the struggle and never fell.'
Present at the meeting were BN candidates for Tenggaroh and Endau, Mohd Youzaimi Yusof and Alwiyah Talib, respectively. Onn Hafiz highlighted that decisions regarding seat distribution are made to balance the interests of all component parties while reinforcing solidarity among UMNO, MCA, and MIC.
He noted that Tenggaroh's voter composition includes about 500 Indian voters out of more than 39,000 registered voters, emphasizing that this has never deterred BN from upholding its multi-racial cooperation model. Onn Hafiz also challenged the election machinery to demonstrate the effectiveness of BN's power-sharing formula by increasing the coalition's winning majority in the upcoming state election. 'Previously, we won with a majority of 1,356 votes, this time, our target for Zaimi (Mohd Youzaimi Yusof) is not just victory, but a majority of 3,000 votes,' he asserted.
The Tenggaroh seat will witness a three-cornered contest involving Mohd Youzaimi (BN-UMNO), Muhamad Amerul Muhamad (PN-Bersatu), and Md Yusof Dawam (PH-PKR). The Johor state election is scheduled for July 11, with early voting set for July 7.