JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Speculation on whether Johor will be heading into a snap state polls is expected to be decided, with Umno Johor leaders meeting on Saturday (Jan 22).

Johor Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad, who is also the state Umno chief, is chairing the meeting, which is expected to be attended by all 26 state division chiefs. The meeting will be held at Johor Umno's headquarters in Johor Baru.

According to a source, the main agenda will be the state election and the party's preparations.

"The meeting is to fine-tune our machinery to make sure everything is in order before the state election, which is likely to be held very soon," the source said.

"The meeting will also discuss seat allocations and finalise the list of candidates before being given to the party president (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi)," the source added.

Talk is rife in the southern Malaysia state of imminent elections following the Dec 21 death of a state assemblyman for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, one of the components of Johor's ruling alliance.

This has left the ruling alliance with only a one-seat majority in the 56-seat assembly.

The state government consists of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led by Umno, and supported by Bersatu and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), with a total of 28 seats.

BN's Umno has 14 seats, BN's Malaysian Indian Congress (two), Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (11) and PAS (one).

The opposition has 27 seats, comprising the Democratic Action Party (14), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (seven), and Parti Amanah Negara (six).

The seat held by the late Datuk Osman Sapian of Bersatu, is vacant.

After chairing the Umno meeting, Datuk Hasni, who is also Johor BN chairman, would also chair a meeting with component party leaders as well within the next few days. Apart from Umno and the MIC, the other two BN parties are the Malaysian Chinese Association and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah.

Umno's deputy president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, is expected to visit Johor to further discuss the snap polls with state Umno leaders.

BN and Umno are confident they can secure a victory in Johor after coming out strongly in the Melaka state elections on Nov 20 last year, due to a split in opposition votes.

BN (Umno, MCA and MIC) in the Melaka polls stood on its own.

It was challenged by the Pakatan Harapan opposition alliance (DAP, PKR and Amanah), and by another opposition faction, Perikatan Nasional which consists of Bersatu, PAS and Parti Gerakan.

Although BN now rules Johor with Bersatu and PAS, the Umno-led coalition expects to contest on its own in the state polls.