JOHOR BARU: Johor must be led by the best mentri besar to ensure economic recovery and development, and that person is Barisan Nasional's Datuk Hasni Mohammad, says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (pic).

       The Umno vice-president said Hasni had a track record of initiating recovery following the administration of two state leaders from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), which Khaled described as a time of stagnation and regression.

       "Hasni will be the best mentri besar because he enjoys strong support from Barisan, and there will not be any internal fights.

       "In short, Johor must be led by the best MB for the stability of Johor's future," he said in a Facebook post on Monday (March 7).

       After Pakatan Harapan won the 14th General Election in May 2018, Johor was led by Bersatu's Datuk Osman Sapian, until the former Kempas assemblyman resigned in April the following year.

       He was replaced by Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal, who served as mentri besar until the collapse of the Pakatan administration in February 2020.

       Hasni was subsequently appointed Mentri Besar on Feb 28 that year.

       Earlier, Mohamed Khaled said that despite the state election campaign already passing its midpoint, every other political party has not been clear on its mentri besar candidate.

       Without naming names, Mohamed Khaled pointed out that Perikatan Nasional merely chose a national leader as its "poster boy".

       "Pakatan seems to have given up as it realises it will perform badly this time around.

       "So, it is pointless to argue about the mentri besar position. In addition, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) has realised that any mentri besar candidate it wants to endorse must be approved by DAP. This is not something easy to achieve," he added.

       He then trained his guns on the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda), Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), Parti Warisan, and Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).

       "These parties are just here to make the election crowded," he said.

       He also criticised PKR's Layang-Layang candidate Dr Maszlee Malik, saying that the former education minister had a history of party-hopping.

       "Dr Maszlee quit Bersatu, became an independent MP, then he was among the earliest supporters of Pejuang.

       "After that, he retracted support for Pejuang on Nov 2, and later joined PKR," said Mohamed Khaled.

       In May 2020, Dr Maszlee was among six MPs, including Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, sacked from Bersatu following a tussle with party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

       Dr Maszlee later joined Pejuang before leaving the party to be an independent MP in November 2020.

       In November last year, he joined PKR, citing that he wanted to continue to represent members of academia in politics, aside from representing the people in need of political change.

       Early voting for the state election is on Tuesday (March 8) while polling day is this Saturday (March 12).