By Karen Bong
KUCHING, May 15: An appropriate date for the dissolution of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (Sarawak DUN) will be decided by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah upon consultation with the Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Gabungan Parti Sarawak secretary-general Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi in announcing this today disclosed that tenure of the Sarawak DUN which was supposed to end on June 6, 2021 has no effect given the Emergency Order declared in Malaysia which will last until Aug 1 this year.
“As we all know that the tenure of the Sarawak DUN will end on June 6, 2021. In normal circumstances, it would have been dissolved for the return of the rakyat’s mandate to democratically elect their government in an election.
“But we are under a health emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic in which the emergency order will last until Aug 1, 2021.
“As such, this provision of the State Constitution has no effect by virtue of the Emergency Ordinance 2021,” he told a press conference after the GPS Supreme Leadership Council meeting chaired by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg today.
Nanta added that Abang Johari has had an audience with Taib to inform him that under the Sarawak Constitution, the tenure of Sarawak DUN would end on June 6 which is five years from the date of its first meeting on June 7, 2016 after the 11th Sarawak Election.
“The dissolution of the DUN thereunder will be on a date the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after consultation with the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak thinks appropriate,” he said.
That apart, Abang Johari will also have an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on this matter.
“We have full confidence and trust in their wisdom to decide thereon. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the rakyat’s lives are paramount,” he emphasised.
On a question whether Sarawak will hold an election upon expiration of the Sarawak DUN, Nanta reiterated the decision will be made by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong upon consultation with Taib.
“The decision of GPS is that to hold an election during this Covid-19 pandemic where cases have surged is risky in the sense that we may not be seen to put the interests, safety and health of the rakyat.
“Furthermore, there is also the emergency order. As such, election is not the first thing in the mind of the government at the moment,” he stressed.
The GPS government, he added, considers Covid-19 as a serious threat to the people and that people’s lives matter utmost. — DayakDaily
