‘ Ignore rumours on Parliament dissolution’
> EC: Dates mentioned on social media ‘makes no sense’
PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission (EC) has advised the public to ignore rumours on social media about the dissolution of Parliament.
EC chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah ( pix) said Parliament could only be dissolved with the consent of the Yang diPertuan Agong, on the advice of the prime minister.
He said the dates stated in the rumours did not make sense – Jan 11 for the dissolution and March 11 and 25 as the dates for nomination and polling respectively.
Mohd Hashim said the period between the January and March dates exceeds the 60-day limit during which a general election must be held.
Meanwhile in Shah Alam, the first two days of the EC’s local inquiry for its redelineation exercise in Selangor saw a surprise turnout of objections by individuals from Barisan Nasional.
The inquiry on the second day, which was to process objections from voters at the present Subang, Gombak and Tanjung Karang parliamentary constituencies, was attended by only one person.
MCA Subang branch member B.L. Yong objected to the EC’s proposal to rename and delineate Petaling Jaya Utara (P106) as Damansara, and Subang (P107) as Sungai Buloh.
He said the redelineation would cause both parliamentary seats to suffer from a huge voter discrepancy compared to other parliamentary seats in the state.
He said the EC’s plans would make Damansara the largest parliamentary seat in Selangor, with over 150,000 voters, while Sungai Buloh would have about 70,000 voters, creating a 2.05:1 voter ratio.
On Wednesday, the EC held its local inquiry for the Ampang, Subang and Kelana Jaya parliamentary seats.
Umno’s Kota Damansara assemblyman Datuk Halimaton Saadiah Bohan protested EC’s proposal to shift the Sungai Buloh army camp from her constituency to the Paya Jaras state constituency, which she claimed would be detrimental to her bid to retain the seat she won in 2013.
Ampang Umno division chief Datuk Ismail Kijo had also opposed EC’s plan to redelineate two polling districts from Ampang to Gombak.
The ongoing inquiries are expected to continue past the New Year weekend and is scheduled to be completed by Jan 9.
Under Part II of the 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution, the EC is required to hold inquiries to consider objections following the mandated redelineation exercise.
Following the first round of inquiries, the EC would decide if changes to its proposals are necessary, requiring them to display the new proposal and allow objections to be filed for 30 days.
The commission may then hold the second and last round of local inquiries on those objections before making its final submission to the prime minister, who would then table it in Parliament for approval by a simple majority before its is forwarded to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong prior to being gazetted as law.