No early dissolution for Selangor, says MB Khalid
After months of teasing, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has finally confirmed that his administration will not seek the dissolution of the state legislative assembly before Parliament is dissolved.
After months of teasing, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has finally confirmed that his administration will not seek the dissolution of the state legislative assembly before Parliament is dissolved.
However, he said that the state legislative will be automatically dissolved on April 22 even if Parliament, which expires on April 28, is yet to be dissolved.
"The reason I am making this announcement is to basically avoid any confusion for the people of Selangor and Malaysia.
"The Election Commission (EC) has said it wants to do state and federal elections simultaneously, thus we are aiming at that time frame," he said.
No decision from Pakatan
Speaking to reporters after the Pakatan Rakyat leadership council meeting today, Khalid stressed that this was his decision and not that of the Pakatan national leadership.
"I am also talking to other Pakatan states to adopt the same date of dissolution," he said, adding that discussions are still ongoing with other states and a decision has not been made.
He said that if his proposal goes through, it would put pressure on the federal government to dissolve Parliament before April 22.
Selangor is the first of four Pakatan-administered states that will automatically have its legislative body automatically dissolved, followed by Kelantan (April 28), Penang (May 2) and Kedah (May 5).
Earlier today, Sinar Harian had quoted Khalid stating that he would bring the matter to the Pakatan leadership council today and make an announce a dissolution date today or tomorrow.
However, the council did not decide on the matter.
Khalid had on March 11 said the state may consider dissolving its state assembly this month.
The speculation was further fueled when the Selangor exco met yesterday instead of on Wednesday. However, there was no announcement of any dissolution.
Several other state assemblies are also reaching their dissolution date, with the Negri Sembilan state assembly slated for automatic dissolution at midnight tomorrow.
'No benefit'
DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang has opined that that early dissolution in Pakatan Rakyat-held states will no longer give any strategic benefit to the federal opposition coalition.
This, he said, is because all state assemblies and Parliament are nearing their automatic dissolution dates.
"As Parliament and the various state assemblies have already been pushed to the last lap of their tenures, with Parliament already exceeding its five-year natural life and the Negri Sembilan assembly to be automatically dissolved at midnight (tomorrow) ...," he said in a statement today.
"No distinct advantage is likely to be accrued from any early dissolution of the Pakatan state governments."
Lim said the general election must be held by May 25 if there is to be simultaneous state and parliamentary elections as Negri Sembilan's state election must be called within 60 days from dissolution.
Related stories
'BN not jittery about dissolving Parliament'
Nazri asks AG to look into caretaker gov't rules
Multi-ethnic front, votes key to Pakatan hopes in Johor
PAS' confidence in Kedah may be its undoing
Sabah the kingmaker in federal politics?
Najib has become a 'kiasu' and 'kiasi' prime minister
Pakatan rejects RTM's offer of 10 minutes airtime
On GE13, Daim predicts less and opines more
What's 10 minutes compared to decades of BN media?
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This action cannot be undone.