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KUALA LUMPUR – Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) appears to be up in arms over the possibility of the coalition’s leadership deciding against dissolving the state’s legislative assembly, which will separate the state-level polls from the coming 15th general election (GE15).
It is learnt that some executive committee members of the DAP-led state have urged the PH presidential council to “reconsider” its previous stance of refusing to dissolve state governments under its control, in line with Parliament’s dissolution on Monday.
Speaking to The Vibes’ on the condition of anonymity, a coalition insider stressed that sentiments on the ground should have been taken into account before such a decision was made.
“The people (in Penang) want concurrent elections. Many have already said that they will not come back to vote twice. We should just have concurrent elections (with the federal-level one) to not cause hassle and add costs for our voters,” he said.
He also said ignoring voters’ sentiments could lead to a repeat of PH’s dismal performance during the Melaka and Johor elections in November last year and March this year, respectively.
“It would be as if we never learnt our lessons from (the) Melaka and Johor (elections). We saw then that when a separate state election is held, the turnout of voters is lower because people don’t return to vote. This will put us at a disadvantage,” he said.
In the Melaka election, PH only won five of the 28 seats, while the Johor polls saw PH securing only 11 out of 56 seats in the state assembly.
The source asserted that since elections are already set to take place at the federal level, it would be best to carry out state polls at the same time, even if this would be perceived as PH contradicting its initial stand on the matter.
The logistics for national elections are already in the works so we might as well kill two birds with one stone,” he said.
“Based on the current situation and feedback from on the ground, it would be wise for us to reconsider our (previously issued) stance and do the right thing, which is to run elections concurrently.”
The source also slammed the refusal to dissolve the state assemblies as being a manifestation of “poor strategic thinking,” claiming that the “disappointing” call would point towards a lack of rational deliberations.
“If this is the kind of strategic thinking that they (PH national leaders) have, then it’s no wonder that we lost our position as the federal government.
“With this kind of decision-making (that is) devoid of strategic thinking, it will be no wonder if we don’t win (the national polls) this time either,” he opined.
He added that while the PH presidential council is likely trying to avoid making different decisions on dissolving states under its control, the conditions in Penang varied from those in Selangor and Negri Sembilan.
The situation in Selangor and Negri Sembilan is different from that in Penang. The former, for example, has few outstation voters while Penang has a good number of voters living outside of the state,” he said.
“They (PH presidential council) should see the differing circumstances (in Penang) and allow the state assembly to dissolve in tandem with Parliament,” he said, alleging that a denial of this “reasonable request” would display “shallow decision-making”.
The source’s concerns, however, might not be put to rest anytime soon as DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke yesterday confirmed that any resolution made by PH regarding the dissolution of the state assemblies will apply to all states held by the coalition.
“That is the principle we try to achieve,” Loke told reporters when asked if there would be a single decision for Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan.
Loke said this after attending a PH presidential council meeting yesterday, which included PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim – who said the matter was still being deliberated by the respective parties.
“(The discussion) involves PKR (in Selangor and Negri Sembilan) and DAP in Penang. At the moment, we are still tied to the previous decision (not to dissolve). But we are still discussing (the matter).
The presidential council has given its views, and the parties and states will obviously have to be given some space to discuss and revert to us in the near future,” Anwar said.
The Vibes had reported on Tuesday that the Penang government is purportedly split on whether to conduct the state polls separately from GE15, with state DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow referring the matter to the PH presidential council for a decision.
Selangor and Negri Sembilan, meanwhile, have insisted that their state elections would not be held simultaneously with GE15, although yesterday’s meeting might change this.
On Tuesday, Selangor received the consent of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah not to dissolve its legislative assembly in line with the dissolution of Parliament. – The Vibes, October 13, 2022
Additional reporting by Amar Shah Mohsen