Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke says success in Johor’s state polls will be measured by how many seats can be clawed away from Barisan Nasional (BN), imploring voters to seek a better power balance if they want a surer footing with Singapore, the economic powerhouse across the causeway that has soaked up its workers and industry.
Loke leads the Chinese-majority Democratic Action Party (DAP), a small but punchy partner in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition that broke the Malay-led BN’s decades-long grip on Malaysian politics.
Crucial state polls on Saturday in Johor, where BN holds 40 of the 56 seats, may offer flickers of hope for a return to national power for the once all-conquering Malay umbrella party, which has grown increasingly restless with its own junior partner status inside Anwar’s government.
Loke wants to ensure BN does not have it all its way on Saturday.
His DAP is contesting 17 of the state’s seats hoping a message about returning quality jobs, investment and industry from Singapore may cut through in the Malay bastion.
“We know it is a tall order for Pakatan Harapan to form the state government,” Loke told This Week in Asia in an exclusive interview in the MPs’ lounge at Malaysia’s parliament in Kuala Lumpur.
“But we need to have some sort of balance of power in Johor, and to ensure that Johor will not return to the era of one-party dominance like in the past.”