JOHOR BARU: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pic), who is also Umno vice-president, attended a meeting with party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and the state party political bureau on Tuesday (Jan 25).

       Ismail Sabri arrived at the compound of Johor Mentei Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad’s official residence in Saujana at Jalan Hassan Al-Attas here at 8.42pm.

       Also present at the closed-door meeting were Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan, party secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan and Hasni, who is also the Johor Umno chairman, as well as the state party leadership.

       A Bernama survey found that the Mentri Besar’s official residence became the focus of attention as early as 7.30pm.

       On Monday (Jan 24), Mohamad was reported to have said that Umno was targeting to contest at least 42 seats in the upcoming Johor state election.

       Following the dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly on Saturday (Jan 22), the Johor Barisan Nasional said it planned to contest without the cooperation of other parties because the coalition was confident of winning two-thirds of the 56 seats up for grabs.

       The previous government led by Barisan had 28 state seats with Umno holding 14 seats, MIC (two), Bersatu (11) and PAS (one); while Pakatan Harapan held 27 seats, namely DAP (14), PKR (seven) and Amanah (six). – Bernama