Parliament dissolved, March 1 polling day expected

PRIME MINISTER Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announcing the dissolution of Parliament at noon today, paving the way for the 12th general election.



PUTRAJAYA, Wed:

Parliament was dissolved today, clearing the way for the country’s much-awaited 12th general election. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ended weeks of intense speculation when he made the announcement at a press conference today at his office shortly after noon.

He said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had consented to the dissolution, which is the first step in the process of getting 10.9 million registered voters to cast their ballots when polling is held as stipulated under Article 55 of the Federal Constitution.

Reading from a prepared two-paragraph statement, Abdullah said that state governments had been advised to dissolve their respective state assemblies at the same time.

The Election Commission and Parliament had been informed of the matter, he said, adding that the EC would fix the dates for nomination and polling days.

The EC is expected to meet tomorrow to fix the dates.
With the exception of Sarawak, which already had its state election in 2006, this general election will involve all 12 State Assemblies.

According to the 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 three elections - 1995, 1999 and 2004 - nominations were within nine days and polling within 19 days of dissolution. If that is the precedent to be used, then nominations could be on Feb 23 and polling possibly on March 1.

The current five-year term of the Barisan Nasional ends only in May next year, but an early election has been on the cards since the middle of last year.

At stake will be 222 parliamentary seats and 505 state seats and the BN has maintained a comfortable two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat with its thumping win in getting 199 of the seats in 2004.

Abdullah's move to call for elections now received overwhelming support from State BN leaders who described it as timely.

Most of the state leaders said that their election machinery had been cranked up. All that was left to be done was for them to finalise their list of candidates, before forwarding it to Abdullah.