GE15: Separate federal, state elections, is this a new norm?
G MANIMARAN14 Oct 2022 02:24pm
Photo for illustrative purposes.
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Two years ago, the new norm of Covid-19 had to be accepted in daily lives including social distancing and a mask mandate, these SOPs were practiced during the four state elections in Sabah, Sarawak, Melaka and Johor along with two small elections.
We are now headed towards another new norm with Parliamentary and State Assemblies elections.
Sabah held separate state elections from 2004 while Sarawak held their elections separately since 1979.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in his special announcement on Monday urged state governments to dissolve their state assemblies simultaneously except for Sabah and Sarawak after Pas and Pakatan Harapan (PH)-run states were reported not dissolve their state assemblies.
Bn-led- Pahang, Perlis and Perak at the time of writing this article had not shown any signs of dissolving their states.
Pahang Menteri Besar is still awaiting the dates to face the King to dissolve the state assembly.
Perak state assembly is expected to be dissolved (on Wednesday) but did not as Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah had said to announce the decision.
These developments are not unusual as it is the Sultan's right to decide as seen in 2009.
Meanwhile, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan state chiefs were clear of their decision.
Penang is still divided.
If the separate situations that appeared now continue and practiced, we could witness an election almost every year.
There would be a state election in Sabah (2025), Sarawak and Melaka (2026) and Johor (2027), only 2024 would be free of any elections, however this depending on the situation.
If this becomes the new norm, the people will vote twice for the people's representative for both Parliament and state assembly.
While many expected it would be a burden for voters, it could bring the implication of funds in the management of a major election.
That is not an unusual matter because many democratic countries practiced separate elections, every two or three years covering either the election to choose the nation's chief, Parliament and local government, even district and youth level elections.
Voters must be prepared for the new environment of elections unless a law is prepared regarding the notice of informing of the dissolution earlier and the simultaneous election as what was recommended by the special committee on Improvement of Electoral Systems and Laws for both state and federal levels and local government elections if revived.
