KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian state of Kelantan has officially dissolved its 45-seat state assembly on Thursday (Jun 22), paving the way for the six state polls to be held.
According to Bernama, the dissolution follows an announcement by Kelantan chief minister Ahmad Yakob last Wednesday that the state assembly would be dissolved on this date after obtaining the consent of the state ruler Sultan Muhammad V.
The dissolution of Kelantan’s 14th state assembly was made six days before its term expires on Jun 28.
Six states – Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan – are expected to hold their elections in July or August of this year. Kelantan is the first to dissolve its state assembly.
The remaining states in Malaysia have already held their state elections concurrently with the 15th General Elections (GE15) on Nov 19 or earlier.
Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan are presently governed by Pakatan Harapan (PH). Meanwhile, the governments of Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu are led by Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) which is a component party of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
PH and PAS previously decided not to dissolve the six state assemblies during GE15.
In the 14th General Election (GE14), PAS dominated the Kelantan state assembly after winning 37 seats while the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition secured eight, according to Bernama.
However, Ayer Lanas assemblyman Mustapa Mohamed later quit the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) – a BN-component party – and joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) which is in the PN coalition.
Source: CNA
