N. Sembilan assembly completes five-year term, five state assemblies dissolved earlier

KUALA LUMPUR - The Negeri Sembilan government led by Pakatan Harapan (PH) becomes the only state to fully utilise the five-year mandate obtained in the 14th General Election (GE14) and the last to officially dissolve its 14th State Legislative Assembly.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun today announced that the state assembly will be dissolved on July 1, the last day of its five-year term, to pave the way for state polls to be held simultaneously with five other states, namely Selangor, Terengganu, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan.

The state polls in the six states must be held within 60 days after the dissolution of the state assemblies.

Aminuddin said the dissolution of the state assembly on July 1 was consented to by the Yang Dipertuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir.

The Negeri Sembilan State Assembly has 36 seats where PH led by Aminuddin controls 20 seats comprising DAP(11), PKR (six) and Amanah (three), while Barisan Nasional (BN) has 16 seats secured by Umno (15) and MIC (one).

Kelantan was the first state under PAS to have dissolved its state assembly on June 22, six days before its term expired today.

In the GE14 in 2018, Pas dominated the 45-seat state assembly after winning 37 seats, while BN secured eight. However, Ayer Lanas assemblyman Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed then quit Umno and join Bersatu.

On June 23, the 14th Selangor State Assembly was also dissolved to pave the way for the state polls to be held.

The dissolution was in line with the announcement made by the Sultan of Selangor’s private secretary Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani on June 19 upon the consent of the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah who also signed the proclamation on the dissolution of the state assembly.

The composition of the state assembly before the dissolution sees PH holding 40 seats (PKR-19, DAP-15, Amanah-six), BN (five), Bersatu (four), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) (two), while Pas, Pejuang, and Warisan have one each, along with one Independent representative. Another seat in Batang Kali, however, was declared vacant after the elected representative failed to attend the assembly sitting for over six months.

Today, Penang, Kedah and Terengganu had their respective state assemblies officially dissolved.

The dissolution of the 40-seat Penang State Assembly, 35 days before the end of its five-year term on Aug 2, was announced by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow in a press conference yesterday after receiving the consent of Penang Governor Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak.

State Assembly Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang had also sent the official notification on the dissolution of the state assembly to Penang Election Commission (EC) director Dr Siti Nazariah Abdul Zalim to enable the state election to be held.

The latest composition of the Penang State Assembly sees PH holding 33 seats, followed by BN (two), Bersatu (four), and PAS (one).

Meanwhile, the official dissolution of the Terengganu State Assembly today, two days before the mandate expires on June 30, was consented to by the Sultan of Terengganu, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin.

In the GE14, the Terengganu state government was formed by PAS, after the party managed to win 22 out of 32 state seats, while BN took 10 seats.

PKR which also contested in GE14 in Terengganu, however, failed to get any seats out of all 32 state seats contested.

In Kedah, the dissolution of the Kedah State Assembly today marked the end of Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) three-year administration in the state after taking over from PH on May 17, 2020.

The latest composition of the 36-seat state assembly sees PN holding 20 seats (PAS-14, Bersatu-6); PH 10 seats (PKR-five, Amanah-three, DAP-two ; BN two seats (Umno-2) and Pejuang (two).

Two other seats were left vacant after Gurun assemblyman Datuk Johari Abdul of PKR vacated his seat on Dec 18 last year when he was appointed Dewan Rakyat speaker, and following the death of Belantek assemblyman Datuk Mohd Isa Shafie on June 14. - BERNAMA