Snap polls can be called any time

Can a federal or state government be dissolved any time?
Yes, according to Election Commission (EC) deputy chairperson Wan Ahmad Omar.

A federal or state government can be dissolved at any time, even before three months, if the ruling party sees a need for a fresh mandate, Wan Ahmad was quoted by the Star as saying today.

He added that there was also no provision in the Federal Constitution to prevent the current government from dissolving Parliament or state assemblies.

In this event, he said a snap election could be called.

Wan Ahmad said it was the prerogative of the prime minister to acquire royal consent from the king to dissolve Parliament, adding that the same applied to state assemblies whereby consent is needed from the respective sultan or governor.

“Although polling day of the 12th General Election was on March 8, the current federal government's mandate only commenced when Parliament convened three weeks ago,” he said.

Wan Ahmad was asked to comment on the uncertain political scenario following speculations of possible party-hopping by Barisan Nasional members to Pakatan Rakyat.

Pakatan leaders, especially Anwar Ibrahim, had publicly stated on several occasions that the opposition coalition has the numbers to take over the federal government soon.

Several BN leaders, including Deputy Premier Najib Tun Razak, had responded by saying that the speculations should be taken seriously while they were also others who scoffed at it.

However, in the current Parliament sitting, some Barisan MPs from Sabah also spoke of possible crossovers with Sabah Progressive Party president Yong Teck Lee even issuing an ultimatum to the federal government to take action on the grouses brought up by Sabah leaders.

Yong gave the August deadline for action to be taken, failing which SAPP would make a decision whether to stay in the BN or leave.

Extremely real problems

The latest to join in the chorus is Upko president Bernard Dompok who said the frustrations of Sabahans and their representatives in getting the federal government to solve their long list of problems are “extremely real” and talk about MPs crossing over to join the opposition is symptomatic of this frustration.

The longstanding issues affecting Sabahans could no longer be “swept under the carpet” and MPs were under a lot of pressure to resolve the people’s problems, he told the Star.

Any decision for Upko to leave the Barisan fold will be made by the party and not by him, Dompok stressed to the press yesterday.

He said that while Upko’s three other MPs had not raised the subject of leaving the party “at the moment,” he admitted: “Their frustrations are real. I think no one can deny it”.

When asked if any of the Upko MPs, including himself, had been approached by opposition leaders, Dompok replied: “Not yet as far as I know".

“But if these people (from Pakatan Rakyat) want to talk to me in Parliament, there is no reason why I should not talk to them,” the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said, adding however that “if you ask me, I don’t think the opposition will make the numbers”.