Zahid: Withholding state polls work of 'power hungry’ Harapan

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today alluded that Pakatan Harapan-led state governments were “power hungry” for not dissolving their legislative assemblies.

He accused the opposition coalition of fearing losing power and of wasting public funds by not holding concurrent elections with the federal polls.

This comes as Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who is an Umno vice-president, announced that Parliament was dissolved yesterday, paving the way for the 15th general election (GE15).

“They (Harapan) refuse to hand over the right and mandate of the people to elect a new government for fear of being unable to remain in government.

“(They are) willing to cause waste (of funds) to hold state elections separately due to their fear of losing power.

“If BN was as greedy for power as they are, it could also disallow its states from dissolving the respective state assemblies, but that is not BN’s political motive,” Zahid (above) said in a statement.

Yesterday, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke said Umno was to be blamed for the extra cost involved in holding state elections only after the parliamentary elections.

He said this is because Harapan has been firm in its earlier announced stance to not dissolve its respective state legislatures of Negeri Sembilan, Penang, and Selangor.

On Oct 5, Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim said this was to allow the states to focus on flood relief efforts during the northeast monsoon season which is expected to take place from mid-November to March 2023.

However, Zahid said the opposition’s reasoning against GE15 being held this year due to floods was no longer relevant if the Election Commission (EC) decided that GE15 takes place before mid-November.

“An election, including GE15, means handing the rights and mandate to the rakyat to elect a new government.

“General, local, or state elections are a democratic process through the ballot box that can be participated by any political party or eligible individual.

“GE15 is not a ‘ceremony’ of handing the administrative power back to BN without competition, but rather a process of the rakyat’s vote that determines it,” Zahid said.

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