By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, July 31: The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) is expected to be dissolved on Feb 3, 2022, which is a day after the state of Emergency is scheduled to end on Feb 2.
State Legal Counsel Dato Sri JC Fong said this would be the actual date for the dissolution of the DUN unless the Emergency in Sarawak is revoked by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in consultation with the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri.
“Because the way the Emergency Ordinance is crafted, it says as long as the Emergency is in force, the provisions of the State Constitution relating to the dissolution of the DUN shall have no effect.
“Thus, even though the legislature under the Constitution stated that the DUN should have dissolved by June 7, 2021, because that provision has no effect (under the state of Emergency), there is no dissolution.
“So the dissolution should take effect after the proclamation ends, in which if the new Emergency is allowed to last until Feb 2, 2022, the DUN will be dissolved on the next day,” he said during an online lecture organised by The Sarawak Initiatives (TSI) today.
Earlier, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has decreed that Sarawak will remain under a state of Emergency until Feb 2, 2022, to prevent any further increase in the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic if the Sarawak State Election is held. — DayakDaily
