KUALA LUMPUR: With the conclusion of the guessing game on the dissolution of Parliament yesterday, the next subject that comes into mind is the most obvious: When is polling day?
The focus now shifts to the Election Commission (EC) which will decide the dates for nomination and polling day.
What is certain is that between the two dates, nomination day and polling day, there is a period of at least 10 days for political parties to campaign.
With the assumption that all state assemblies are also dissolved today or in a day or two, with the exception of Sarawak which is not required to dissolve its state assembly while Negeri Sembilan’s assembly was dissolved automatically on March 28, many have predicted the 13th General Election (GE13) will be held in the weeks at the end of April.
If the EC wants to hold the election simultaneously nationwide, it must be held before May 26, that is 60 days after the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly had been dissolved.
This writer tends to believe that the important indicator in determining the date of polling day would be the date of the Asean Summit in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, between April 20 and 27.
By taking into consideration the above factors, many parties are predicting the EC will set the polling day date before April 24 and many quarters believed that polling day may fall on Saturday, April 20. — Bernama