KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — States due for polls this year must already confirm their proposed dissolution dates with the Election Commission to give it ample time to find suitable nomination and polling dates, said the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih).
The Bersih steering committee said that although some menteris besar or chief ministers have already met their Sultan or governors to obtain royal assent for the dissolution of their respective state legislature, others have yet to do so.
“Bersih calls for all states to be more responsible by officially informing the EC of the planned dissolution date, be it automatically at the end of the term or earlier with the approval of the Palace.
“This allows the EC to decide the nomination date and polling day immediately because it does not need to wait for the dissolution to happen, but only requires an official notification from the respective state governments,” it said in a statement.
It said this would make it easier for all parties such as voters, election officials, and political parties to plan for the upcoming state elections.
“If the EC can announce the election date earlier, this facilitates the planning of all parties involved, such as election officials, political parties, security forces, various businesses, and most importantly, the voters, so that they can plan their schedules ahead of time to vote in the election.
“If we wait for the dissolution to happen, the latest dissolution date, according to media reports, now reaches June 30 (Negeri Sembilan), so nine days are wasted while the EC has to wait,” it said.
Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Selangor, and Terengganu must all hold state elections this year as they did not dissolve their state assemblies along with Parliament last year for the general election.