PETALING JAYA – Malaysia’s Islamist party PAS said the three state assemblies under its rule won’t be dissolved for the general election.
Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, president of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), issued a statement on the matter on Thursday after its central working committee (CWC) met at its headquarters to decide on the matter, The Star daily reported.
“The PAS CWC meeting has decided to maintain its stand not to dissolve the state assemblies of Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah,” he said.
“We have also decided that we will strengthen the cooperation in Perikatan Nasional (PN) to face the 15th general election, on the principle of uniting the ummah (Muslims),” he added, thus ruling out working with Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) and leaving the PN alliance.
Malaysia’s Parliament has been dissolved to pave the way for the 15th GE, with polling day expected early next month.
The various Malaysia states are now scrambling whether to simultaneously dissolve their state legislatures or to continue until next year when polls must be held.
PAS had before the dissolution of Parliament said it will not dissolve state assemblies under its rule until March 2023, to concentrate on preparations for the floods during the monsoon that will hit Malaysia from around mid-November to March next year, The Star reported.
In past years during polling day, Malaysians were typically given two ballot papers – one to vote for their Member of Parliament (there are 222 MPs in the federal Parliament), and another to pick their State Assemblyman.
While Parliament is led by the prime minister who governs Malaysia, the country’s 13 states are led by menteris besar or chief ministers.
PAS was a member of the just-dissolved central government led by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob from Umno-BN.
So far, two other states – controlled by opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim – won’t be dissolving their legislatures: Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
The third PH state, Penang, might be dissolved.
Four states which have held their local elections in the last two years, won’t have to be dissolved: Sabah, Sarawak, Johor and Melaka.
This means that voters in these four states, like others which aren’t dissolved, will only get one ballot paper to choose their federal MPs on polling day.
The three BN-controlled states of Pahang, Perlis and Perak aim to dissolve their legislatures.
