PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak dissolved the parliament this morning paving the way for the general election, ending months of speculation.
“This
morning I had an audience with the yang di-Pertuan Agong and received
His Majesty’s consent to dissolve Parliament,” he said.
“This dissolution which is effective today, will pave the way for the
13th general election,” said Najib in a live televised address from his
office in Putrajaya.
In the 12-minute speech that began slightly after 11:30am, Najib flanked on his right by his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, called
on the leaders of the state governments to dissolve their respective
legislative assemblies so that elections for parliament and state seats
can be carried out simultaneously.
He asked all political parties contesting the election to respect the wishes of the people.
The premier also called for a smooth
and calm transition should there be any change in the government of the
day, whether at the state or federal level.
Najib who marked his full four years in office today, also gave his
assurance that the country's administration would continue to be carried
out responsibly under the caretaker government led by him.
It is expected that 11 state assemblies will also be dissolved today or tomorrow to facilitate the general election.
The Negeri Sembilan state assembly was dissolved automatically on
March 27 while Sarawak had its state election in April 2012 and not
expected to be dissolved.
The Election Commission will meet Friday or early next week to decide
on the dates for nomination and polling, said its deputy Chairman Datuk
Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.
At stake will be 222 parliamentary seats and 505 state seats (except
for the Sarawak state legislative assembly which term only ends in May
2016).
The 13th general election marks the first time that Najib is leading
Barisan Nasional into the general election since taking over as Prime
Minister from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on April3, 2009.
According to Federal Constitution, a general election must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of parliament.
Election regulations stipulate that the earliest nominations can be
held is four days after the dissolution of parliament or a state
assembly, while the earliest polling dates are seven days after
nomination.
In the last general election, the parliament was dissolved on February
13, 2008 which was a Wednesday while the nomination day was on February
24 which was a Sunday and polling was held on March 8, 2013 which was a
Saturday.
A total of 13.34 million Malaysians will be eligible to cast their
votes in the 13th edition of the polls, including 3.9 million new voters
based on the fourth quarter of the electoral roll which gazetted on
February 22 this year.
SOURCE: NST, APRIL 4, 2013
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