FORMER Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, created a surprise when he was named as a candidate for the Pasir Raja State Legislative Assembly seat in the 16th Johor State Election (PRN), next month.
His name was announced by Johor Barisan Nasional (BN) Chairman, Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, at the BN Candidate Announcement Ceremony at the Main Hall, Johor UMNO State Liaison Office today.
Adham, who is also the Tenggara UMNO Division Chief, was Pasir Raja Assemblyman for two terms (2008-2018) and Member of Parliament for Tenggara for two terms (2004-2008) and from 2018-2022.
However, his name was dropped in the 15th General Election (GE).
Onn Hafiz, who is also the incumbent of the Machap State Legislative Assembly seat, will remain in the seat in the 16th Johor State Election (PRN) on July 11.
In the 2022 PRN, Onn Hafiz, who is also the caretaker Johor Menteri Besar, won the seat with a majority of 6,543 after securing 11,029 votes to defeat his rivals, Azlisham Azahar (Perikatan Nasional-PAS), R Sangaran (MUDA) and Sharuddin Md Salleh (PEJUANG).
Onn Hafiz had previously also won the Layang-Layang State Assembly seat in the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018 after obtaining 7,449 votes to defeat PKR candidate, Murugan Muthu Samy, with a narrow majority of 364 votes.
So far, Pakatan Harapan (PH) has confirmed that a young candidate, Nor Hafiz Roslan, is contesting the Machap state seat.
The incumbent for the Endau state seat, Alwiyah Talib, who recently announced her departure from Bersatu to rejoin Umno earlier this month, was announced as the BN candidate for the seat.
The Johor state election will be held on July 11, while June 27 is for nominations and early voting on July 7. – June 24, 2026
