Let central leadership decide: Penang Pakatan divided on dissolving assembly

GEORGE TOWN – The decision on whether Penang will choose to dissolve the state assembly to hold a simultaneous election as the federal one may be known by tomorrow after a heated discussion took place during last night’s state DAP emergency meeting.

It is learnt that the state’s DAP leadership under chief minister and state DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow have referred the matter now to the DAP central executive committee (CEC) and the Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council to make the final decision.

The PH council had earlier decided that they will stick to the original plan for states under its administration – namely Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan – to hold separate polls to protest the notion that polls are to be conducted during the seasonal floods period.

It is learnt that the central theme of last evening’s meeting was whether a separate election would burden voters and what were the distinctive advantages in holding a segregated election from the parliamentary one.

Penang has never held a separate election since Merdeka.

Yesterday, caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob received royal assent to dissolve the Parliament with immediate effect, which in turn allows the Election Commission to hold the 15th general election within 60 days.

Several elected representatives, when contacted by The Vibes, said that the matter is now under the purview of the central leadership.

A senior veteran DAP leader who requested anonymity, when asked via text on where the state leadership was leaning towards, replied: “Together.”
Another state government leader present at the meeting, speaking on the condition of anonymity, cited the need to respect the due process of negotiations.

“Discussions were also made extensively on whether having to persuade outstation voters to return twice to cast their ballots may be troubling for the average voter.

“Although Penang has registered an impressive growth rate after the state was among those who have lead the country in recovery after two years of lockdowns, there are still many professionals cum voters working outside of the state.

“Worse, many are also based overseas, so getting them to come back twice may be too much of an inconvenience,'' said a DAP state executive councillor.

Meanwhile, political scientist Wong Chin Huat said that the advantage will be with PH and Perikatan Nasional if there were separate state elections.

He said this comes in consistency with the rejection of the federal election due to the threats brought by floods, which allows for better preparation and for more time to preach about their achievements in governance.

“But a separate one may also invite a full-scale attack by Barisan Nasional (BN), who can pour their entire political machinery into the states holding different election dates from the parliamentary one.”

Wong’s contemporary, Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said that either way, PH has the advantage because of the incumbent status it enjoys for the past three terms.– The Vibes, October 11, 2022