While a leader from the Kelantan government rules out the possibility of a state election ahead of the general election, the same cannot be said about neighbouring Terengganu.

On Monday, a report in the online edition of PAS organ Harakah quoted unnamed sources as saying that the two party-controlled states were considering joining Sabah, which must hold its state elections by next April.

The general election is due before November next year, but it is widely believed that it will be held much sooner.

Describing the report as 'naughty', Kelantan PAS information secretary Wan Ismail Wan Jusoh said he had not heard any of the state leaders discussing such a move.

"This is the first time I've heard of it... I don't know who are the sources quoted...maybe they ( Harakah) was joking or (wanted) to provoke leaders to discuss the possibility," he said when contacted.

The state deputy speaker and Melor assemblyperson added that there was no reason for Kelantan to do this.

"Why should we have a state election separately? No, we have no need to resort to such an exercise. I strongly believe the state election will take place at the same time as the general election," he stressed.

Kelantan has been under the control of the Muslim-based opposition party since 1990. The party retained the state in a landslide victory in the last polls in 1999.

Terengganu 'pondering'

Terengganu exco member Mustafa Ali admitted hearing talk of such a move, but stressed that there were no serious discussions about this at the moment.

"Well...some state leaders are pondering over the exercise. I can't say anything more than this at this juncture.

"We don't even know whether or not Sabah will actually dissolve its legislative assembly or when," he said when contacted.

The PAS vice-president also refused to comment on whether such an exercise will be favourable to the party, as claimed by the report.

"Of course there are pros and cons to the idea. Only time can tell whether there will be any serious discussions on the matter," he said.

Commenting on the issue, Zahari Muhammad - press secretary to Terengganu Mentri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang - said the current sentiment among leaders was to wait for the federal government to dissolve Parliament.

"Of course the power (to call for a separate election) is with the state, but so far there have been no such plans.

"It sounds illogical to have an early state election when we are still finalising our campaign work and schedules," he said when contacted.

Bitter experiences

Zahari said this did not mean that PAS was not confident about winning Terengganu which it wrested away from Umno in the last elections.

"Of course if the election is conducted in a fair and clean manner, I sincerely believe that we can win. But we have had experiences with Umno's election tactics and it's not a pretty picture," he added.

The Federal Constitution allows a state Ruler, at the request of the menteri besar, to dissolve the legislative assembly. The election must be held within 60 days from the date of the dissolution.

The new state assembly must then be summoned within 120 days from the election date.

However, the Federal Constitution also grants discretionary powers to the Ruler to withhold consent to a request for dissolution of the state assembly.