PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has announced that Parliament has been dissolved, paving the way for the 12th general election.
At a hastily convened press conference at his office Wednesday afternoon, he said he had met the Yang Di Pertuan Agong in the morning and received His Majesty's consent to dissolve Parliament.
"I've informed Parliament and the Election Commission," Abdullah said. The state assemblies have also been advised to dissolve.
The Prime Minister declined to speculate on what date Malaysians would cast their ballots, saying that it would be up to the Election Commission (EC) to decide.
"I am confident of winning, and I hope that we will retain our two-thirds majority," he said.
The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition swept to a landslide victory in the last general election in 2004.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission said it would announce polling and nomination day on Thursday at its office in Putrajaya.
The Election Commission held several meetings Wednesday in preparation for the Prime Minister's announcement of the dissolution of Parliament.
“We have got the declaration on the dissolution of Parliament by the Yang Di Pertuan Agong and the announcement of nomination and polling will be done tomorrow," said EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman.
When asked if nomination day was February 21 and election day on March 2nd, he said: “You can speculate anything you want. The official announcement is tomorrow.
“You wait for the official announcement,” he added.
Abdul Rashid also said, "We want to make sure of fairness in this election process. We will ensure the appropriate time and space is given for the parties to choose their candidates and for campaigning."
EARLIER
Parliament won’t be dissolved today, says PM
BANGI: Parliament will not be dissolved today.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi put an end to such speculation, telling reporters here yesterday: “Esok tak ada (No, it won’t be tomorrow)”.
He also denied that today’s Cabinet meeting would be the last with his present team of ministers before Parliament is dissolved to pave the way for the next general election.
“What makes you think that? How do you know it’s going to be the last Cabinet meeting (before elections are called)?” he asked when responding to a question.
Asked if there would be more Cabinet meetings with the present team, Abdullah said: “Yes, there will be more.”
The Cabinet meets every Wednesday. The Prime Minister’s comments yesterday means it is still a guessing game as to when the polls would be called.
Abdullah, who is Barisan Nasional chairman, also said there would be no compromise in picking only clean candidates.
“In the last elections (2004), there were some people who were potential candidates, but they were being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA). Their files were with the ACA, so I did not choose them,” he said.
He said he wanted a clean team of candidates and would ask the ACA to run a check on some of the potential candidates.
“I will get a report from the ACA, whether they are clear or not,” he said.
However, he would not be handing over a list of potential candidates to the ACA. “Nanti orang tahu susah pulak (It might be difficult if the names became known).”
Instead, he would ask the ACA to run checks on individuals here and there.
On the Election Commission’s move to allow recounts if there were a 4% difference in the winning vote, instead of a mere 2% as had been the practice, Abdullah said the ruling coalition accepted the decision.
“We follow whatever the EC decides,” he added.
EC Will Announce Nomination, Polling Dates Tomorrow
PUTRAJAYA Feb 13(Bernama) -- The Election Commission (EC) will meet tomorrow to set the nomination and polling dates for the 12th general election.
Its chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, said today that in choosing the dates, the EC would be considering several matters including the country's situation and public security.
"The EC will give a suitable timeframe for the nomination, campaigning and then polling," he said in an interview with RTM shortly after Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the dissolution of Parliament today, paving way for the general election.
Rashid said the EC would study the current situation to ensure that the general election would be held in a safe and conducive environment.
tunku : pak lah is a great liar. first he said parliament won't be dissolved on 13th February now suddenly he dissolved it.GREAT LIAR. so the battle is on from now till 1st of march and comes 2nd march please go out and vote for the right candidates.
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8 comments:
i hope the opposition will field someone strong in kepala batas to teach this liar a lesson. come on we know that bn will still win this election, but let us go out and vote to reduce their majority.they should not win big this time.then only they will realize that we are not stupid people.
i agree with tunku, let us vote the right candidates, those who are liars,'kaki sapu duit' should be defeated at all cost.
opposition should at least secure 70seats in parliament.
i like what awang teja said .. at all cost
anyway bn will still win, opposition are very weak at this time, the only setback that bn will get is from their own members who don't agree with the current leaders.
For all I know this 'surprising tactic' may well backfire. The fact of the matter: HE LIED!
Denying a 2/3rd majority for the BN is still a highly possibility. So don't stay at home on election day. Go out there and give them a drubbing they'll never forget.
AAB and his 4th floor strategists are testing the CHinese. They had tested Indian during deepavali.
If all chinese voted against, then no more CHinese Ministers he can appoint. In fact, they may not be anymore Indian on board, unless senators.
This show AAB and the country leader like to toss around with VOTERs and beloved citizen and tax payers. Is his style and working methodology follow this way. Undecisive, playing around, so many economic, investment system were shorted, apparently 3 ppl knows the date. SO they had profit much from sell-short in BURSA?
Malaysia heads for polls amid ethnic, economic woes
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dissolved parliament Wednesday to pave the way for snap elections which are expected to erode the ruling coalition's majority.
Abdullah's popularity has plummeted as the nation is beset by mounting racial tensions, unprecedented street protests, anger over rising fuel and food prices, and high crime rates.
Announcing that the king had consented to dissolve parliament, the premier indicated he did not expect a repeat of the 2004 landslide when the Barisan Nasional coalition seized 90 percent of parliamentary seats.
"2004 was a special election and it was extraordinary. I pray that BN will get at least two-thirds of the votes in the upcoming election," he told a press conference.
"I hope voters will understand the issues affecting our country objectively," he said, adding that the Election Commission would decide on the polling date.
Voting must be held 60 days after parliament is dissolved, but the government traditionally allows just a two-week campaign period, which would mean a ballot in early March.
Abdullah appealed for calm during the campaign in an apparent reference to a string of public rallies over the past few months which police have broken up with tear gas and water cannons.
"My hope is that during the voting, nothing untoward will happen -- there will be no disturbances or trouble that will affect the voting process," he said.
Abdullah heads the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which leads the Barisan Nasional multi-racial coalition that holds 200 of the 219 seats in parliament. It has been in power since independence a half-century ago.
The Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP) holds 12 seats, the fundamentalist Islamic party PAS has six and Keadilan, which is led by the wife of dissident former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, has one seat.
The government's term expires in May 2009 and some commentators say it is going to the polls early to ensure Anwar cannot contest. He was sacked and jailed in 1998 and is barred from politics until April this year.
In the next elections there will be 222 seats up for grabs due to the creation of new constituencies. The assemblies in the 12 states and territories will also be contested.
Abdullah's popularity rating has plunged from 91 percent when he took power to 61 percent last December, according to research firm Merdeka Center.
"I imagine they will do well but not as well as last elections," said political analyst and UMNO-watcher Shamsul Amri Baharuddin from the National University of Malaysia.
"The last election was based on expectations -- this one is based on his performance in the last four years," he said.
In 2004, the government rode a wave of optimism surrounding Abdullah, who had taken over the year before from veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad, who ruled with an iron fist for 22 years.
However since then, the premier has been criticised as weak and unable to carry out key elections promises like ridding the country of corruption which plagues business and politics.
PAS secretary-general Kamaruddin Jaafar said it was "disappointing" that the government had sidelined Anwar, but that the opposition parties expected to do well in the polls.
"I foresee that we will see a substantial swing towards the opposition, especially among the non-Malays, who are very unhappy with the economic situation, crime rate and the overall lack of direction that Abdullah's leadership has shown," he told AFP.
Abdullah has admitted that previously staunch support from the nation's ethnic Indians will likely melt away after unprecedented protests last year against discrimination at the hands of Muslim Malays.
Five Indian activists who organised the rallies have been jailed under draconian internal security legislation which allows for indefinite detention without trial.
DAP parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang condemned the election announcement, which falls during celebrations for Chinese New Year.
"I think it shows a disregard and insensitivity of the diverse cultures and religions in the country," he told AFP.
These are ppl may vote against, many things done too little too late. They field reactions i gathered are staggering. could be 55:45 ratio. in term of voting counts.
1. Anwar followers.
2. PAS hard core followers.
3. DAP followers.
4. PPL corrupted and charged. or ppl could not corrupted.
5. ppl kena SAMAN.
6. ppl cannot paid studies loan and kena chase like no tomorrow.
7.ppl find every month after paying all their loans, expenditure, no spare money left in their family saving account.
8. ppl KENA taxed , raid by enforcement team for xtra tax levied.
9. for Sure Indian...working class, young...and ...
10. Mat rampit?
11. you and me bloggers whom get exposed to explosive news.
12. Lingam....
13. some Judges...
14. who else?
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