BN rebounds, PH flounders and other winners and losers of the Johor polls
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- Barisan Nasional (BN) won 48 of 56 seats in the Johor state election, up from 40 previously, with the coalition nearly doubling its vote total to 1.1 million
- Onn Hafiz Ghazi was sworn in for a second term as Johor chief minister on July 12, hours after the Election Commission declared results
- Pakatan Harapan (PH) suffered losses with a reduced vote share and notably low turnout in its traditional areas
- Bersatu lost all the seats it contested, while newcomer parties Bersama and MUDA failed to gain meaningful traction
- PAS backed BN to defend Malay political power, and the Johor royal family actively campaigned for BN despite online backlash against the royals' involvement
- The result means roughly six of every seven assemblymen in Johor's 56-seat legislature now hail from BN
Why it matters: BN now controls 86% of Johor's legislature, effectively sidelining PH and Bersatu from state-level influence in a key southern Malaysian state. The convergence of royal endorsement, PAS alliance, and PH's collapse signals UMNO has consolidated the Malay vote heading into the next general election cycle, while smaller and newer parties could not break through.
