4-way battle for Johor’s Maharani seat as parties pitch strengths

MUAR: The Maharani state seat is shaping up as one to watch in the 16th Johor state election, given the mix of urban development in Muar and the surrounding suburban areas.

Categorised as a mixed constituency, the seat’s history is unique as it has been held by several political parties before, from both the opposition and government blocs.

On July 11, Maharani will see a four-cornered fight between Perikatan Nasional (PN), Barisan Nasional (BN), Pakatan Harapan (PH), and Muda.

Maharani has 40,040 registered voters and was last held by BN 22 years ago in 2004, before falling to the opposition for four consecutive election terms.

PN’s Anuar Hayan, who is defending the seat won by outgoing assemblyman Abdul Aziz Talib in 2022, said his years of community work in the area gave him confidence ahead of polling day.

“Muar is not foreign to me because I have long been involved with the community through various human capital development programmes,” he told FMT.

Anuar said he would run a “mature” campaign focused on service rather than personal attacks, and pledged to continue Aziz’s welfare initiatives if elected.

“I believe human capital development is the foundation of a society’s progress. Whatever programmes are planned, whether in education, religion, youth or welfare, I will ensure that they benefit all residents of Maharani,” he said.

Muda candidate Amir “Jack” Fiqri said that being under the same constituency as Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman worked in his favour.

“The Syed Saddiq factor gives us an edge and helps Muda in Maharani. Our service record here is also strong, and we will use that to win over voters,” he said.

For PH’s Taqiuddin Cheman, his party’s control of the federal government is an asset. He argued that Maharani had lost out on resolving local issues in the past for lack of a state representative aligned with Putrajaya.

“Voters here want a party that can form the government. Muda only has five candidates in this election – how can they form a government?” he asked, adding that PH stood a chance of capturing the seat if turnout was high.

BN’s Ashari Md Sarip, meanwhile, is seeking to reclaim the seat his coalition last held in 2004.

He said he was banking on BN’s record under menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi to sway voters.

“I will not use the PAS-Bersatu split to our advantage, but will instead run a respectful campaign without personal attacks,” he said.