What if Najib decides on NS first?
The question is will the PM, in an attempt to stymie the opposition, decide to hold the Negeri Sembilan state election first, before dissolving parliament.
Zefry Dahalan, FMT
The Negeri Sembilan state assembly will be the first to be dissolved on Thursday (March 28). The five-year term of the legislative body expires midnight today.
Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan, in explaining how the dissolution terms work, said the day (March 27, 2008), the 36 state assemblymen took their oaths is not counted as the first day of the state assembly sitting. The next day is considered the first.
“So the five-year term ends at 12 midnight on March 27, 2013 and the Negeri Sembilan state assembly sitting will be dissolved automatically on March 28, 2013,” said Mohamad.
In the meantime, Mohamad added he will manage the caretaker government until the election, which must be held within 60 days of the date of the dissolution.
This situation in Negeri Sembilan now poses a question if PM Najib Tun Razak, in an attempt to stymie the opposition, will hold the Negeri Sembilan state election first before dissolving parliament.
It may look strange but there is nothing wrong with the move if he were to do so, according to the law.
Parliament will be dissolved automatically on April 28. Technically state elections can be concluded by then, as the Election Commission needs less than 30 days to announce the nomination day, conduct the nomination process and hold the election.
Najib has a good reason to deal with Negeri Sembilan first. He and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin have put in extraordinary effort to woo voters in Negeri Sembilan for the past 13 months.
The premier and his deputy, seeing it as the most fragile state likely to fall to Pakatan, have set a record of sorts, visiting it 11 times between themselves.
Guidelines for caretaker government
Strategically it will be a wise move for Najib and Muhyiddin to wrest the ‘nine states’ and go into a bigger contest, sending out a signal that Barisan Nasional is in driving seat.
However it will be an interesting scenerio and Pakatan leaders definitely can’t wait to see the Election Commission’s reaction if such scenario really happens.
