Anwar’s challenges going into the Johor polls

2021 was a challenging year for the political parties based on the reformation spirit that failed twice during Melaka and Sarawak polls.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) used to be feared by many political parties with the involvement of figures such as Rafizi Ramli, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Chegu Bard, Tian Chua, Elizabeth Wong and Datuk Dr Xavier JayaKumar.

The founder of the party, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will once again become the centre of attention during Johor state election on March 12.

PKR’s sad episode during the state election started on Sept 26, 2020, which was during the Sabah state polls where PKR contested under Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) for seven seats but only managed to win two seats.

To add more, PKR lost all seven seats during the Melaka polls on Nov 20, 2021.

The defeat was a great blow to PKR despite having the most candidates compared to its ally in Pakatan Harapan (PH).

Anwar’s strategy in appointing the former Melaka chief minister, Datuk Seri Idris Haron as Asahan state assemblyman seems to be a bad decision.

The credibility of Anwar was doubted even more when his 28 candidates who contested in the Sarawak state elections lost all the seats.

For the upcoming Johor State election, Anwar nominated Dr Maszlee Malik as the party's candidate for the Layang-Layang state seat which is the Simpang Renggam parliamentary constituency.

The former education minister will be representing PKR and was promised to be appointed as Johor MB if PH wins.

Apart from Anwar, other PKR leaders such as the state PKR chairman Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh and youth chief Akmal Nasir are also wooing voters.

While Umno is starting to regain votes from the people, PKR seems to still be looking for the best formula to make regain the rakyat's trust.

If nothing changes during the Johor state election, will the rakyat trust Anwar's words and what would be Anwar’s fate in the future?