Back to the voting booth: A scene from a polling station the day before GE15 last November. — AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star.
PETALING JAYA: Having simultaneous state elections in Penang, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah will not only be beneficial in terms of saving time and costs, it will also show confidence by both sides of the political divide, say observers.
They said reaching a consensus could prove to be easier said than done, with former foes now sitting together at the federal level as components in the unity government.
Universiti Sains Malaysia professor of political sociology Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said it made sense to hold simultaneous state elections as voters could be faced with election fatigue, with GE15 having just been held in November.
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Simultaneous polls would also be more cost effective for the Election Commission (EC), police, military and all agencies involved, he said.
“The state elections can be the most solid platform to project the new unity government formula and so it will be important for a consensus to be reached.
“Seat allocations and campaign strategies will be closely observed and become the determining factor to show a sense of unity among all political blocs involved.
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“Even though it is going to be a tough, yet thorough discussion, in-depth understanding to avoid unhappiness among the blocs can be reached through continuous negotiations, mediation and focus on compromise for the various blocs to find a win-win solution,” he said when contacted yesterday.
He also said that the six state assemblies would automatically be dissolved between the end of June and end of August.
Senior lecturer Dr Mazlan Ali of the Perdana Centre of the Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, said holding the polls separately would send a signal that the parties were only concerned about politics and not the people.
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He said this would go against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s call for less politicking and more cooperation among political parties.
Mazlan said in the event the unity government blocs did not agree with simultaneous state polls, this would show that they were not confident about performing well.
“But if Perikatan Nasional makes a request to have separate polls for their states, this is seen as normal as it is the Opposition,” he added.
Mazlan expected the state polls to be held after Hari Raya Aidilfitri, expected to fall on April 22, adding that the elections could be held in May or June.
“If it’s left later than that, then it will be the Haj season, where many Muslims are expected to perform their pilgrimage,” he said.
Mazlan added that Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional, which are in the unity government, would now have to cooperate in the state polls.
He said this was because both had seen a decrease in Malay votes to newcomer Perikatan in GE15.
“So if Umno enters the state elections solo, Umno will have a slim chance of winning the seats they hold, as will Pakatan, which will only be able to defend mixed areas.
“In Malay-majority areas, it is difficult for them. In addition to Perikatan’s increasing influence among the Malays, the division of votes with Barisan may also hinder Pakatan from winning new areas or defending existing seats.
“So I think we will see them cooperating,” he said.
Sociopolitical analyst Assoc Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi of Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections said the most logical thing would be for the state assemblies to dissolve after Hari Raya to enable a sufficient campaigning period.
“The PAS government, for example, definitely wants to use the two months (Ramadan and Raya) to campaign using state government machinery.
“If they were dissolved beforehand, then the government machinery cannot be used,” he pointed out.
Awang Azman added that Pakatan and Barisan had no option but to reach a consensus on important matters such as seat sharing and campaign strategy to face the six state elections.
“If they do not compromise with each other, it means that the unity government will be fragile, it will fall at any time or at most it will only last a term.
