KUALA LUMPUR – Former Johor State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi has congratulated Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidates who won in the 16th Johor state election and urged them to continue serving the people, while describing PAS as the biggest loser following the polls.
The former Umno Supreme Council member said PAS had paid a heavy political price for adopting an approach that ultimately weakened its own political ally, local media reported.
He said the move had reinforced the perception that PAS was not a reliable partner for long-term political cooperation.
“They practise strange politics. They are willing to kill their own component partner.
“Now PAS is complete as a party that cannot become a partner. PAS is ‘the loser’,” he said in a Facebook post this morning.
PAS and Bersatu, the main components of Perikatan Nasional (PN), failed to win any seats in the election despite securing three seats in the previous state polls.
In the Johor election, PN contested 33 state seats, with Bersatu fielding 16 candidates, PAS 11, Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) five and Pejuang one.
Puad, who is also a former director-general of the Special Affairs Department (Jasa), said PAS’ biggest achievement in the Johor election was effectively ending Bersatu’s political dominance.
“PAS’ initial efforts by giving way to Hamzah were unable to cripple Bersatu. But this time Bersatu has truly collapsed completely,” he said.
However, the former Rengit assemblyman questioned the extent of PAS’ contribution to BN’s landslide victory in Johor.
He said if PAS supporters had indeed shifted their votes to BN, the numbers were unlikely to have been significant based on the party’s performance in several constituencies, including Tiram, Tenang, Kahang, Jementah and Simpang Jeram.
Instead, Puad attributed BN’s victory to a strong wave of support for the coalition, coupled with the return of some Chinese voters backing BN.
“Hence, BN’s victory was certainly due to the very strong blue wave, in addition to Chinese voters returning to support BN,” he said.
EC satisfied with Johor election process
Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) expressed satisfaction with the overall conduct of the 16th Johor state election, saying polling proceeded smoothly without any incidents that could have affected the electoral process.
EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said registered voters were able to exercise their democratic rights and responsibilities during polling day.
“The 16th Johor state election did not witness any untoward incidents that could have affected the electoral process,” he told a press conference after announcing the official results early today.
Ramlan said voter turnout stood at 68.73%, with 1,874,918 voters, including early, postal and ordinary voters, casting their ballots.
The EC will also continue its unofficial election results display and grandstand initiative after receiving positive feedback since its introduction during the Kinabatangan by-election, he said.
Ramlan said the initiative allowed the public to receive election updates more quickly and transparently, as unofficial results were based on Form 14, which was also shared with candidates’ agents.
However, he said the EC would continue reviewing the initiative periodically to address any issues that may arise, although it had so far proven beneficial to all parties.
Ramlan added that the commission would investigate incidents involving individuals who uploaded photographs of marked ballot papers on social media to prevent similar incidents in future elections.
“We have seen several photographs uploaded on social media. We are unable to confirm whether they were actually taken inside polling stations, and we will examine the matter in greater detail,” he said.
He added that EC regulations require voters to place their mobile phones in designated storage boxes before casting their ballots.
In the election, Barisan Nasional (BN) secured 48 of the 56 state seats contested, while PH won the remaining eight. – July 12, 2026