Johor PH chairman Aminolhuda Hassan said the decision was made after Johor BN chairman and Johor menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi declared yesterday that BN would contest all 56 state seats.

“Therefore, Johor Pakatan Harapan is also offering itself to contest all 56 seats in Johor.

“When the menteri besar has stated that he (Johor) will contest 56 seats, we too will contest 56 seats,” he said at the PH convention in Johor Bahru today.

Aminolhuda said BN had effectively set the stage for contests between BN and PH by seemingly closing the door on cooperation.

“They have opened the way and made a firm decision … so we will not back down,” he said.

The Johor state assembly will automatically dissolve in April next year if an election is not held before then, after which the polls must be held within 60 days.

BN formed the Johor government after winning 40 of the 56 seats in the last state election in March 2022.

PH won 12 seats while Perikatan Nasional secured three, and Muda one.

Aminolhuda said PH was prepared to face direct contests once again in the next state polls, adding that they would not simply “surrender” or “plead” (for seat allocation).

“Although some from other states have questioned why we want to contest and why we are fighting our own allies, the answer is simple – because they were the ones who made the declaration first,” he said.

“They made the declaration, so we responded.”

Aminolhuda also expressed confidence that PH would be able to repeat its performace at GE14 in 2018 when it won 18 of the 26 parliamentary seats, against BN’s eight.

He said Johor remained “politically favourable” to PH due to the coalition’s parliamentary strength and support in urban constituencies.

He also reminded PH members that they must be willing to sacrifice their time in order to do well in the state.