In Malaysia, BN’s Johor ‘blue wave’ leaves Anwar’s PH facing hard questions

Barisan Nasional’s (BN) sweeping win in Johor is expected to embolden it within Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government while forcing his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition into a difficult postmortem over its waning appeal on the ground.BN, which ruled the country for six decades before losing power in 2018 and later joining Anwar’s bloc in 2022, retained its Johor stronghold with 48 seats out of 56 on Saturday night – an improvement from the 40 it won in the 2022 polls. PH managed only eight, ceding ground from its previous 12.Analysts say the result, which came despite Anwar campaigning heavily for PH, will give BN momentum before the Negeri Sembilan state election on August 1 and could deepen friction inside the ruling coalition, where PH and BN govern together in Putrajaya but are increasingly testing each other at the state level.