Commentary
Rumours are rife that Parliament will be dissolved on April 9 to pave way for the 14th General Election (GE14) which is speculated will be held on May 5.
An anonymous message stating such has been making the rounds on social media, and also states that nomination day will fall on April 21.
The circulated message also states that the federal cabinet meeting will meet for the last time on April 4.
The message further adds that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on April 6 to request for the dissolution of Parliament.
It then speculated that Barisan Nasional (BN) will launch its manifesto and candidate list on April 13.
Whether these dates, especially the dates involving the dissolution of Parliament, nomination day and polling are true, only Najib and the Election Commssion can tell.
However, there is no harm looking into these dates, which some having already proven to be not accurate.
Firstly, it was true that the last federal cabinet meeting was to be held on April 4. However, recently in an exclusive interview with Sinchew Daily, Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz disclosed that the meeting has been postponed to April 5.
Secondly, the speculation that BN would launch its manifesto on April 13 is already proven to wrong because while launching the Felda second generation housing lot models today at Beran today, Najib announced that he would unveil the BN manifesto on April 7.
Additionally, whether he would announce his candidate list on April 13 as speculated, remains to be seen.
For election watchers, one point which needs to be highlighted is that Najib is expected to visit Sungai Asap to hand over the ownership of the Bakun Hydroelectric Dam to Sarawak on April 5.
The handing over of the Bakun Dam is a national issue where many national and even international press representatives are expected to attend. The function will be a good place to make the announcement.
Furthermore, with Sarawak as the state with the most parliamentary seats of 31, and also the “fixed deposit” of BN, there may be a likelihood that he may decide to announce the dissolution of Parliament here in Sarawak.
In addition, April 5 falls on a Thursday while April 9, a Monday. In terms of the days of the week, it would just be convenient and suitable.
Setting aside the suitability of time, politically, making the said announcement in Sarawak would mean creating history because it would be the first time that a prime minister announces the dissolution of Parliament in Sarawak and such a move would definitely please many Sarawakians.
When Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri James Jemut Masing was asked to comment on these dates, he said he had no idea if the dates stated above might be true.
“One thing I am quite certain is, GE 14 must be held before May 15, which is the beginning of Ramadan.”
“And also, Sarawak BN will launch its manifesto on April 9. All I can say is, GE14 is near and will be held by mid-May,” Masing, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, told DayakDaily. — DayakDaily
