JOHOR BAHRU: Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi is set to continue his family's legacy as an important leader of Johor and the country following his appointment as the 19th Menteri Besar of Johor.

Onn Hafiz, 43, is the great-great-grandson of Johor's first Menteri Besar Datuk Jaafar Muhamad, and is no stranger to the political landscape in the state and country.

His great-grandfather Datuk Onn Jaafar, is the founder and first president of UMNO, who was also the seventh Menteri Besar of Johor, while his grandfather, Tun Hussein Onn was the third prime minister of Malaysia.

Onn Hafiz was sworn in as the new Menteri Besar of Johor before the Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar at Istana Bukit Serene, here today.

In the 15th Johor State Election on Saturday, he won the Machap seat with a majority of 6,543 votes, defeating Azlisham Azahar from Perikatan Nasional (PN), R. Sangaran from Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) and Datuk Dr Sharuddin Md Salleh of Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang)

Onn Hafiz had previously held the Layang-layang state seat which he won in the 14th General Election (GE-14).

He was appointed as a member of the state's executive council, helming the Tourism, Youth and Sports Committee on March 6, 2020.

Under his guidance, several programmes were implemented covering sports and youth development in the state, including the establishment of the Southern Volunteers (SV) team, as well as the opening of the Tunku Mahkota Ismail Youth Center (TMIYC).

With a degree in accounting from the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom (UK), Onn Hafiz became active in politics when he held the Sembrong UMNO Youth vice chief's post, and later went on to become Sembrong UMNO youth chief's post before helming his current post as Simpang Renggam UMNO Division Vice Chief.

He was also the political secretary to Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein when the latter was defence minister during the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.

He replaces Datuk Hasni Mohammad, who was appointed as the 18th Menteri Besar on 28 Feb 2020.

-- BERNAMA