Following Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's disclosure this morning that Parliament will be dissolved tomorrow, the Election Commission (EC) said it will meet in four days to fix the nomination and polling dates for the 11th general election.

Its chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the meeting would be held after receiving the notices on the dissolution from the speakers of the Dewan Rakyat and the state assemblies.

"I will fix a special date to discuss," he told a media conference according to a Bernama report.

On the campaigning period, he said it would be fixed later.

Abdul Rashid had earlier met with Inspector-General of Police Mohamed Bakri Omar to discuss the preparations for the polls at the commission's headquarters in Putrajaya.

The police chief had recently announced that the annual leave for his personnel have been frozen in view of the upcoming general election.

S'gor state assembly dissolution

Meanwhile, Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo announced that the Selangor State Legislative Assembly will be dissolved tomorrow simultaneously with the dissolution of the Parliament.

According to Bernama, he is scheduled to have an audience with the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, at Istana Alam Shah in Klang at 4.30pm to inform him of the dissolution and to get his consent.

Mohd Khir, who is also Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) chief, had set a "zero-opposition" target in the polls.

In the last election, BN made a clean sweep of all 17 parliamentary seats and won 42 of the 48 state seats.

The six seats which fell to the opposition are Gombak Setia, Kajang, Sungai Besar and Sungai Burung (PAS), Bandar Klang (DAP) dan Hulu Kelang (Parti Rakyat Keadilan).

Under the redelineation of electoral boundaries, Selangor has been allocated five additional parliamentary and eight state seats, bringing the total to 22 parliament and 56 state seats.

PAS candidates for Kedah

In a related development, Kedah PAS said it will announce its candidates for the general election one day before nomination day.

Kedah PAS Commissioner Azizan Abdul Razak said the list of candidates has been submitted to the party leadership and is pending finalisation.

"We will announce the candidates one day before nomination day. The venue of the announcement is yet to be determined whether it would be at the Kedah PAS office or during a ceramah," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Asked on the candidates' list, Azizan said that it contained old and new faces comprising religious figures and professionals.

The battle for the northern state is expected to be close as PAS commands a sizeable presence following the 1999 general election.

Of the 15 parliamentary seats in the state, the opposition party controls eight while the rest are held by the ruling Barisan Nasional.

PAS also controls 12 of the 36 state seats in Kedah, which is the home state of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.