BN's Hasni Mohammad sworn in as Johor's Chief Minister
29 February, 2020
Barisan Nasional (BN) Johor chief Hasni Mohammad has been sworn in as the Johor chief minister on Friday (Feb 28), the royal press office confirmed in a statement.
The state assemblyman for Benut took his oath of office before the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar at Istana Bukit Serene in Johor Bahru, the statement said.
Johor's crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim was also present at the ceremony.
Speaking a press conference after he was appointed, Mr Hasni said: "This is simply not a fresh government created by our doing, but due to the necessity to have a new government.
"With regards to the appointment (of chief minister), it's the absolute discretion of the ruler (Sultan Ibrahim) in fact it is relative to the state constitution," he added.
Mr Hasni said his priority now was to create the new state executive council and begin governing.
On Thursday, the palace had announced that the Johor state government will be replaced by a fresh coalition including lawmakers from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and BN.
Following Bersatu's decision to leave the Pakatan Harapan coalition on Monday, Johor's former chief minister Sahruddin Jamal and BN Johor chief Hasni Mohammad met with Sultan Ibrahim on Wednesday and informed him a new coalition had a simple majority to dominate the PH state government.
Dr Sahruddin is a Bersatu politician.
Sultan Ibrahim then invited all 56 state seat members for a gathering and asked them individually if indeed they would support a PH state or the brand new coalition.
According to the palace, 28 members find the new coalition while 26 members chose PH to remain as the state.
However, down the road Thursday, PH in Johor claimed that it had the support of 28 out of 56 state seat assemblymen, the same number to the lawmakers who said yes to the brand new coalition.
The PH group contains nine lawmakers from Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), 14 members from the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and five members from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
In addressing this, Mr Hasni said in his press conference that he was confident the new coalition had enough support to rule.
"We can make up the numbers," he said.
In a press statement late on Friday, PH maintained that it has the support of 28 seats.
"Inside our opinion, this deadlock will make it difficult to execute policies in the state legislature," the statement said.
"We will serve the people appropriately with the mandate that was presented with to PH in the 14th general election," it added.
In the 56-member Johor state, BN holds 16 state seats and PAS one seat. Bersatu has 11 seats.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Action Party has 14 seats, Amanah nine and PKR five.
Source: