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Onn Hafiz, the grandson of former prime minister Hussein Onn, was sworn in by the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar at the Istana Bukit Serene in Johor Bahru.
Also present was Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.
The 43-year-old Umno man won the Machap seat with a 6,543 majority in Saturday’s state elections. He served as the executive councillor for youth, sports and tourism in the previous BN-led state government.
Earlier, BN submitted statutory declarations from 38 newly-elected assemblymen stating their support for Benut representative Hasni Mohammad to be appointed the state’s next menteri besar, FMT learned.
This came amid talk of a stalemate between the coalition and the Johor palace over the choice of menteri besar.
Rumours had been swirling that Onn Hafiz, who is also defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s nephew, was being touted as the next menteri besar.
A report by Berita Harian yesterday speculated that Onn Hafiz would replace Hasni. However, Malaysiakini reported that he was among three names proposed by Umno, the other two being Hasni and Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi.
There had been speculation that Onn Hafiz was the preferred choice of the palace.
He is a two-term assemblyman having made his debut in the Layang-Layang seat in the last general election (GE14) in May 2018.
Onn Hafiz described Hasni’s sacrifices in giving way to a younger person to lead the state as proof of his strong statesmanship.
He said Hasni’s sacrifices also showed that he was confident with the abilities of young people in leading Johor.
“Insya-Allah, I will always seek advice from him as he is much more experienced than me.
“Hopefully, the combined synergy of those experienced with the idealism of the young will help develop and strengthen Johor further,” he said in a post on his official Facebook account today.
Onn Hafiz also urged Johoreans to be united in heart, mind and energy to jointly develop the state.
“To my beloved Bangsa Johor, I will try my best to fulfil all the promises made by BN, Insya-Allah,” he added.
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