Sabah State Assembly dissolved

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KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman yesterday announced the dissolution of the Sabah State Assembly, four hours after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the dissolution of Parliament at 11.30pm yesterday to pave the way for the 13th general election.

“I had an audience with the Head of State (Tun Juhar Mahiruddin) at Istana Negeri and received the consent to dissolve the State Legislative,” he told reporters at his official residence, Sri Gaya.

Musa was flanked by his deputies Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, Datuk Seri Panglima Yahya Hussin and Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai, as well as other cabinet ministers and assemblymen during the 10-minute speech that began at 4pm.

“After five years of serving and working to support the people’s welfare and to develop Sabah, it is time again to return the mandate to the people.

“It is our hope and wish that the 13th general election will be carried out peacefully, orderly and smoothly based on the constitution and democracy,” he said.

Musa also echoed the Prime Minister’s call to Sabahans, especially in the east coast, to practise their rights without any worries about their security and safety.

“On behalf of my Cabinet, we would like to thank the cooperation, support and commitment shown to the state government, especially in carrying out the development agenda towards providing a better living for the people,” said Musa.

The Election Commission is expected to meet on Friday or early next week to decide the dates for nominations and polls.

At stake will be 222 parliamentary seats and 505 state seats (except for the Sarawak State Assembly whose term only expires in May 2016).

According to the Federal Constitution, a general election must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of Parliament.

Election regulations stipulate that the earliest nominations can be held is four days after the dissolution of Parliament or a state assembly, while the earliest polling dates are seven days after nominations.

In the last general election, Parliament was dissolved on February 13, 2008 which was a Wednesday while the nomination day was February 24 (Sunday) and polling March 8 (Saturday).

A total of 13.34 million Malaysians will be eligible to cast their votes in the coming polls, including 3.9 million new voters based on the fourth quarter of the electoral roll which was gazetted on February 22 this year.