JOHOR BARU: Speculation on whether Johor will be heading into a snap polls is expected to be decided with state Umno calling for a meeting on Saturday (Jan 22).

       Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad, who is also the state Umno chief, would be chairing the meeting, to be attended by all 26 division chiefs at the state party headquarters here.

       According to a source, the main agenda will be on the state election, which is speculated to be held soon and the party’s preparations.

       “The meeting is to finetune our machinery to make sure everything is in order before the state election, which is likely to be held very soon.

       “The meeting will also discuss seat allocations and finalise the list of candidates before being given to the party president (Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi),” the source said.

       It is learnt that after chairing the Umno meeting, Hasni, who is also Johor Barisan Nasional chairman, would also chair a meeting with component party leaders as well within the next few days.

       Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan is expected to visit Johor to further discuss the snap polls with state Umno leaders.

       The Umno-led government has a simple majority with 28 seats against Pakatan Harapan’s 27, while one seat was left vacant after the passing of former mentri besar Datuk Osman Sapian, who was Kempas assemblyman, on Dec 21.

       Currently, the state government consists of Umno (14), MIC (two), PAS (one) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (11) while the opposition comprises DAP (14), Amanah (six) and PKR (seven).