The Election Commission (EC) prefers state and parliamentary elections be held simultaneously as it will save cost, time and energy.

Its chairman Abdul Aziz abdul aziz yusof ec spr chairman election Mohd Yusof ( right ) said EC was in favour of holding simultaneous elections as it did not want to prolong politicking.

"EC will not be tired and so will the politicians. Imagine having one election after another, there will be no end to this," he told Bernama when contacted today in Shah Alam.

Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had said the Selangor State Legislative Assembly would not be dissolved even if Parliament was dissolved this year.

Aziz said the Selangor government had the right to dissolve the legislative assembly after receiving assent of the sultan on the advice of the menteri besar.

EC will have to call the election 60 days after the state legislative assembly was dissolved.

Asked whether Selangor should bear the cost of having election separately, he said the cost will be borne by EC which received allocation from the federal government.

Aziz said EC prefers simultaneous elections like Bukit Gantang (Perak), Bukit Selambau (Kedah), and Batang Ai (Sarawak) in 2009 and Merlimau (Melaka) and Kerdau (Pahang) in March.

He likened holding elections simultaneously to organising a wedding for three children as it is cost-effective and save manpower.

The 2008 general election cost over RM200mil while the Sarawak state election cost RM50mil.

DAP against concurrent elections

The DAP said today it was not in favour of holding concurrent elections in the states held by the opposition pact in the event the next general election was called this year.

NONE Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng ( left ) said the party's central executive committee (CEC), at its meeting last night, agreed that the party preferred that all the four opposition-held states - Penang, Selangor, Kedah and Kelantan - complete their full five-year term.

The last general election was held on March 8, 2008.

"However, if the polls are called next year, then we would likely agree to hold concurrent elections," he told reporters.

However, Lim said, the party's decision was still subject to further discussion among the opposition-pact parties as the DAP only controlled Penang while Selangor was led by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Kelantan and Kedah, by PAS.

Lim said should the polls be held later, it would place the opposition pact in a better position to recapture Perak.

He also said that the CEC meeting agreed to endorse Perak DAP's stand to support the reappointment of PAS leader Datuk Seri

Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as the Perak mentri besar should the opposition pact recapture the state in the next general election.

However, a recent opinion poll showed that the pact would only win 33 of the 59 seats in the state assembly if an election was called now as compared to a similar poll conducted in 2009 which showed that the pact would have won 40 seats then.

- Bernama