Minos believes PRN12 will be held this year

KUCHING: Veteran politician Dato Peter Minos believes the next state election ( or PRN12) would be held this year despite some quarters wishing it to be deferred.

Minos, who is also Kota Samarahan Municipal Council (KSMC) chairman, said his view was based on the economic forecast made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

“IMF and the World Bank and many economists had reported that beginning January 2021 the world economy will shrink and will go down badly due to the rising Covid-19 surges and also due to the effects of the coming winter that will worsen things.”

He said Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) would face severe challenges if the state election were to be held next year (2021).

The latest reports by IMF, World Bank and some eminent economists indicated that with the expected surge of Covid-19 infections and deaths in Western Europe, Russia and the United States early next year, the world economy will worsen in 2021, Minos pointed out.

He added that if state election is to be held this year, then GPS and opposition parties would have this month, November and December to intensify their campaigning.

Minos also took cognisance of the rejection of Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin’s bid to call for a state of emergency by Yang DiPertuan Agong.

“Now that it is confirmed that there is no emergency, the state election can and may be held very soon - in the coming November or December.”

“Come to think of it, what difference does it make if election is held in November or December and within February and March next year?

“Better deal with it and be over with it soonest so that next year we can start afresh and really focus on combating the Covid-19 pandemic and looking after the economy,” he stressed.

Minos noted that the current State Legislative Assembly (DUN) term ends in April 2021.

“The life of the state assembly ends in coming April, unless extended to June as allowed by law. But no ruling government wants to hold an election at the last minute because, if say at the last month the economy falls or in near collapse for whatever reasons and an election must be held, that would be a total disaster to the ruling government.

“Past experience and history have shown that, exercising prudence and wisdom, the state government held elections at least six months before the term of the state assembly ended.”

Minos believed the current state government will not choose to depart from that trend.

“That I am pretty sure. The opposition and likeminded group had expressed disagreement of an early election in Sarawak, as if forgetting that the state assembly’s term will end very soon and that the ruling government by law must get a fresh mandate from the people,” he stressed.

“Some people opposed holding the election within this year, because of the current Covid-19 pandemic situation but although it is pretty bad in Sabah and the Peninsular Malaysia it is not so bad in Sarawak, thanks to the wise decisions of Sarawak government.

“If Singapore, New Zealand and South Korea could hold their elections only recently and in Covid-19 situation, then why can’t Sarawak?” he added.

However, when contacted, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) presidential council member See Chee How argued that DUN automatic dissolution date will be sometime in June 2021.

He said by virtue of Article 21 of the Sarawak Constitution, the automatic dissolution date of the DUN term should be in June 2021 because the current DUN term began with the first DUN sitting after the 2016 state election on June 7 2016, said See who is a lawyer by training.

See, who is also the Batu Lintang assemblyman, said after the automatic dissolution date in June 2021, the Election Commission has 60 days or up to August 2021 to hold the election.