Johor ruler appoints new menteri besar, after incumbent steps back
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JOHOR BARU • Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazali was appointed Johor's new menteri besar yesterday, after last Saturday's state polls that brought Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) back into power on its own steam.
The choice of the newly-elected assemblyman for the top post was a surprise as BN had campaigned for the former chief minister, Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad, to be made menteri besar again should BN win.
Datuk Onn Hafiz, 43, was sworn in before Johor's ruler, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, in a ceremony witnessed by the Malaysian state's crown prince, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.
Mr Onn is a great-grandson of Umno founder Onn Jaafar.
In last weekend's election, BN secured a super majority of 40 state seats out of 56 contested in Johor, with opposition Pakatan Harapan winning 13 and Perikatan Nasional (PN) taking just three seats.
BN - led by Mr Hasni - previously ruled Johor with a narrow majority with support from the PN parties Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Parti Islam SeMalaysia. PH, which included Bersatu, had taken power in Johor in the 2018 general election, the first time that the southern state, Umno's birthplace, had slipped from the party's hands.
But the PH alliance collapsed in early 2020, mirroring its collapse at the federal level when Bersatu left the coalition.
During the just-concluded Johor election, Mr Hasni had been branded the "poster boy" for Umno-BN who would lead the state again. But he surprised many people on Monday when he was still not sworn in by the sultan, leading to speculation of royal intervention in the choice of the menteri besar.
And then Mr Hasni, 62, issued a statement suggesting that Umno-BN should pick someone younger to lead the state.
He said: "Seeing the support and position of the younger generation who are important in the development of Johor, and for the sake of the state's lasting prosperity, I suggest that the party leadership elect young people to lead Johor."
Former Umno federal Cabinet minister, Tan Sri Shahrir Samad, wrote on Facebook on Monday: "Umno was certain that Datuk Hasni Mohammad was the menteri besar. But it wasn't strong enough, it seems, and Johor Umno can't do anything about it. It's embarrassing."