THE Barisan Nasional (BN)-led states will dissolve their legislative assemblies simultaneously with the dissolution of Parliament so that state polls can be held during the 15th General Election (GE15).
However, BN chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Melaka, Johor and Sabah state legislative assemblies will not be dissolved as they have not reached their due date for dissolution.
“The state governments under BN are very concerned, and we do not want the Election Commission (EC) to be burdened with high expenses if the state elections are held separately.
“Hence, we decided that the states under BN will not hold separate state elections,” Zahid said at a press conference after launching the 76th MIC general assembly at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) today.
Previously, Pakatan Harapan announced that it would not dissolve state legislative assemblies in Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, while PAS also made the same decision in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Zahid, who is also UMNO president, said that BN is ready to face GE15 at any time.
He added that the BN Supreme Council decided to retain eight parties as “friends of BN” and was examining the application of another seven parties to become core parties, thereby allowing its candidates to contest on a BN ticket in GE15.
Without revealing the names of the parties, he said that BN was looking at the suitability of the parties offering candidates before reaching a formula to come to a decision.
Earlier, in his opening speech, Zahid said that BN agreed to include all the manifesto items proposed by MIC in the BN manifesto, taking into account the contribution of the Indian community to the country.
Among the manifesto items proposed by MIC is a commitment from BN to implement the Cabinet Committee on the Socioeconomic Development of the Indian Community Action Plan 2.0.
Meanwhile, commenting on cooperation between BN and PAS, the former deputy prime minister said that BN’s stance on cooperation with PAS was that it must be comprehensive, and described the party’s proposed cooperation to avoid a three-cornered clash in GE15 as a “ruse”.
“If you want to work together, let’s work together ‘comprehensively’, not to avoid a three-corner (fight),” said Zahid. – Oct 10, 2022
Main photo credit: The Star
