All eyes on Najib to announce dissolution of Parliament
MIRI: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak wrapped up his nationwide tour in Miri yesterday.
All eyes are now on him to announce the date of the dissolution of Parliament to pave the way for the 14th general election (GE14).
Buoyed by the red carpet welcome and rousing response to his clarion call to support Barisan Nasional ( BN) wherever he went, he is expected to call on the Yang di- Pertuan Agong to seek royal consent to dissolve Parliament in the next 24 hours.
Sarawak is BN’s bastion and the most politically stable state in the country, having won 72 out of the 82 seats in the last state election in 2016.
The strong support for Najib in Sarawak is not surprising as he has an excellent track record in the state.
Since his appointment as prime minister nine years ago, he has made 60 trips to the state and visited 160 places and approved billions worth of projects in the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said this record simply was beyond comparison as far as a former prime minister was concerned.
Expectations are high that he would be announcing the dissolution of Parliament today as he is expected to unveil the BN election manifesto the following day.
All BN component party leaders from Sarawak would be flying to KL for the unveiling of the manifesto.
Najib is expected to lead BN in securing another mandate despite the most serious onslaught by the opposition in recent history.
The Registrar of Societies ( RoS) yesterday slapped former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) with a provisional dissolution order.
PPBM is one of the parties under Pakatan Harapan, the opposition pact, whose other components are PKR, DAP and Amanah.
The Dr Mahathir-led opposition pact had probably anticipated the move, and said they would announce their common logo today.
DAP, Malaysia’s largest opposition party, announced yesterday that its iconic ‘ Rocket’ logo would not be used in GE14 – the first time since 1969 – leaving the door open for PKR’s logo to be used as their common symbol.
The parliament session ended yesterday.