SENAI: Following a dismal outing in the Johor state election, Pakatan Harapan will conduct a post-mortem to find out what went wrong with its campaign strategy, says state chief Aminolhuda Hassan.

“Whether or not it was the wrong strategy, the election is over and most importantly, we will conduct a post-mortem after this and we should be open to any sincere opinions,” said Aminolhuda in a press conference organised late Saturday (March 12) night.

He also said Pakatan’s poor performance came as a surprise, as they did not expect a low voter turnout of 59.5%.

“If there was a turnout of 70% to 80%, the result could have been different,” Aminolhuda added.

He also said the low turnout was not due to a fear of Covid-19, as many voters are residing overseas.

Aminolhuda was speaking in a joint press conference with Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong and PKR’s Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh.

As of 11.20pm Saturday (March 12), Aminolhuda said PKR had won one seat, Amanah won one and DAP won 10, while Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) had picked up one.

The sole Amanah candidate to win is Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub in Simpang Jeram.

Aminolhuda also said multi-cornered fights had also led to Pakatan’s dismal performance.

“In my seat, between me and Barisan, there was only a difference of 1% in votes, but Perikatan garnered about 18% to 20%.

“If it was a straight fight, Barisan would not have won. So these are the things we should look into,” he said.

“This means the Opposition must be in a coalition to ensure we can bring ourselves further ahead,” he added.

Aminolhuda lost in the Parit Yaani seat after he garnered 8,776 against Barisan’s Datuk Najib Samuri (9,070), followed by Perikatan’s 5,435 and Pejuang’s 239.

Asked if he would resign as the Johor Pakatan chairman, Aminolhuda said that depended on the party leadership.

“If I am needed, I will stay. But, when the time comes, we will leave it to those who are capable,” added Aminolhuda.

Official results by the Election Commission (EC) as of 11.46pm showed that Barisan has won 37 seats, followed by Pakatan (nine), Perikatan (three).

Results for seven state seats are yet to be determined.