SHAH ALAM: Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will not contest in the upcoming Johor election.

He said the decision was made to allow more new faces to be featured by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in the state polls.

"I will probably not contest. This is up to the leadership to decide. I want to focus full time on the more important thing which is at Parliament, managing the party at the central level and delivering the message of our struggle.

"So, I want to give opportunities to the figures in Johor and it is up to them… we will decide later," Muhyiddin, who is Pagoh member of parliament, told reporters before chairing the Bersatu supreme council meeting, here, tonight. 

In the 14th general election, Muhyiddin won the Gambir state seat under the Bersatu ticket after obtaining a 3,088 vote majority, defeating his Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Datuk M. Asojan and Pas candidate Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamed.

The Johor assembly was officially dissolved on Saturday after the consent of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, was obtained.

The outgoing Johor State Assembly comprised 56 seats with Umno (14), DAP (14), Bersatu (11), PKR (seven), Parti Amanah Negara (six), MIC (two) and Pas (one).

The Johor government had a slim majority of one seat with 28 seats compared to the 27 seats held by the opposition bloc in the assembly following the death of Kempas assemblyman Datuk Osman Sapian on Dec 21.

The Election Commission is will hold a special meeting on Feb 9 to decide on the nomination day, early voting day and normal voting day as well as other details for the Johor election.

The Johor polls are the fourth state election to be held since GE14. State polls were previously held in Sabah, Melaka and Sarawak.

Pundits have speculated that in the event Umno does well in the Johor polls, it is likely that it would be followed by GE15.