Yong: Najib, Musa must explain polls delay

The current violence at Lahad Datu is no excuse to delay the general election because the Malaysian armed forces and police are already on top of the security situation.

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has urged both the state and federal governments to announce a date that they will dissolve the legislative assemblies and parliament.

The local opposition party noted that the five-year mandate given to the current governments have expired on Friday (March 8) and that this is the first time in the history of Malaysia the complete term of the government had been exhausted without an elections date being set.

“Although the constitution gives the government five years from the date of the first sitting of the respective legislature, by convention, the political mandate is for five years only”, SAPP chief
Yong Teck Lee said in a statement issued here.

He reminded that this convention was applicable to both the state and federal governments and to both the BN and Pakatan state governments.

“It would be unconventional and irresponsible for any government whose political mandate has expired to embark on new policies or to commit the government to mega projects,” he said.

Yong added that even if Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak or the Chief Minister Musa Aman did not immediately dissolve the legislature, they must announce a date that they would seek advice from the King and the Head of State to dissolve the respective legislatures.

“The current violence at Lahad Datu is no excuse to delay the general election because the Malaysian armed forces and police are already on top of the security situation.

“In any case, there have been past precedents when elections were successfully conducted in the midst of the communist insurgency in Peninsula Malaysia and parts of Sarawak before,” he pointed out.