Parliament dissolution not likely today

Although speculation has been rife that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak would dissolve Parliament today to pave way for the 13^thgeneral election, various factors, including the official schedules of both Najib and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong show otherwise.

The official calender of the 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), being held in Hawaii, United States, from Nov 7 to 13, Najib is slated to give a talk tomorrow, together with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

After Apec, Najib will attend the sixth annual East Asia Summit to be held in Bali, Indonesia, from Nov 14 to 19, at which he will have a meeting with US President Barrack Obama.

These factors, which keep the prime minister very occupied and away from the country, hardly give any credence to the speculation that Parliament would be dissolved any time soon.

In addition, the Umno annual general assembly is to be held from Nov 29 to Dec 3 at which several thousand Umno leaders from all levels will gather in the federal capital.

BN supreme council meets this afternoon

Another indicator is that the Agong is scheduled to make a one-day official visit to Malacca today.

If Parliament is to be dissolved today, Najib will need to send an official request to the Agong to do so.

With the current government moving into its fourth year of rule and the sluggish global economy being shrouded with risks, speculation that Najib will call a snap election to seek a fresh mandate has been rife since early this year.

Some dailies have speculated that Parliament would be dissolved today, with "11" touted as the preferred "lucky number" of Najib, and Dec 10 to be the likely polling day.

This speculation was further fuelled when Najib called a meeting with former BN lawmakers yesterday, and with the BN supreme council scheduled to meet this afternoon.

However, according to media reports, Najib gave no indication of any immediate move to call for a fresh general election at the meeting yesterday.

In terms of logistics, schools, which are usually used as polling centres, will be occupied with the year-end public examinations, including SPM and STPM, until mid-December.

The states in east and north of the peninsula are also bracing for possible floods during this monsoon season. Calling an election at this juncture will not favour the ruling coalition.

Also, tens of thousands of Muslim Malaysians are still performing their haj pilgrimage in Mecca and the last batch of pilgrims is only due to return on Dec 11.

These people will lose their opportunity to vote should an election is called before that day.