PERIKATAN Nasional’s (PN) failure to win a single seat in the Johor state election has dealt a severe blow to the coalition, with an analyst warning that the opposition now faces an even tougher challenge heading into the Negeri Sembilan polls.
Academy Nusantara senior fellow Dr Azmi Hassan said PN’s decision to contest 33 seats but emerge empty-handed underscored the scale of the coalition’s setback.
“When you contest 33 seats and get nothing, it means the result is very bad for PN,” he told The Vibes.
Official results showed PN was wiped out in Johor after losing all 33 seats it contested, including the three constituencies it previously held.
Barisan Nasional (BN) secured a landslide 48 seats while Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the remaining eight.
The defeat was particularly painful for PN’s two main components, with Bersatu failing to defend any of the 16 seats it contested, while PAS also failed to make a breakthrough after losing all 11 seats it fielded candidates in.
“For Bersatu to finish 16-0 and PAS 11-0 is a very bad result. It doesn’t do them any good going into the Negeri Sembilan election,” Azmi said.
He added that the Johor outcome would likely dent PN’s momentum just weeks before voters head to the polls in Negeri Sembilan on Aug 1.
“PN will have a mountain to climb against both BN and PH.”
Azmi, however, acknowledged that former Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Annuar Musa had put forward an interesting argument in the aftermath of the election.
Annuar had suggested PN’s strategy of tacitly backing BN in selected contests had successfully neutralised PH and contributed to BN’s commanding victory.
“In a way, yes, it was quite a brilliant observation by Annuar Musa,” Azmi said.
“But I don’t think BN will buy that conclusion because BN won on its own accord.”
He argued BN’s victory was driven primarily by its own electoral machinery, campaign strategy and grassroots strength rather than any indirect benefit from PN’s positioning.
The Johor result marks another difficult chapter for PN in a state where it had hoped to expand its influence.
Instead, the coalition failed to retain any representation in the 56-seat assembly, raising fresh questions over its ability to challenge either BN or PH in upcoming state elections. – July 12, 2026
