New government likely in place by mid-May, before Ramadan.
The dates on which Parliament will be dissolved are now almost certain to be on March 28, 29 or 30, according to The Star, with polling likely to be in late April or early May.
Giving the closest hint yet on when the polls are likely to take place, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi spoke on the sequence of events leading up to the dissolution when meeting with top editors on Tuesday.
He said that after lawmakers have concluded debate on the motion of thanks on the Royal Address, ministers would take their turns to wind up.
“After this, Bills will be tabled. Then, we will table the motion on the proposed redelineation. After it has been debated and passed, it will be gazetted upon receiving royal assent,” he said.
What comes next would be the dissolution of Parliament. The Election Commission will then set the dates for nomination and polling, explained Zahid.
Parliament had earlier been expected to debate a proposed law to curb fake news, but this may be abandoned as the draft Bill is not ready yet.
The report on the new electoral boundaries is expected to be given to all Members of Parliament by next week and may be tabled as early as Monday.
Approval of the new election maps could be the last business for this Parliament, which had been scheduled to sit until April 5. A simple majority of 111 votes is required to have the proposal passed.
Analysts say the new election maps could hand Barisan up to 10 wards in the 222-seat Parliament without any increase in support.
The Election Commission has said it can put into effect the new boundaries within days of receiving royal assent.
The fact that the motion need not go through the Dewan Negara is one of the reasons political observers are looking at end-March for Parliament to be dissolved, with another indicator being the April 7 date for Barisan Nasional’s unveiling of its manifesto.
It has been a practice by Barisan to reveal its election pledges only after the dissolution. It did so three days after the Dewan Rakyat was dissolved in the last general election.
Pakatan Harapan launched its manifesto on March 8 while PAS will present its election pledges on March 18.
The Star report said that according to political analyst Prof Datuk Abdul Halim Sidek of Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, the end of March would be the right time to dissolve the Dewan Rakyat since the Election Commission needs 30 days to hold an election.
“If it is the end of March, by the time polling takes place it will be early May. Whatever it is, the general election needs to be over by mid-May – before Muslims begin their fasting in the month of Ramadan,” he was quoted saying.
Potential balloting dates being mentioned are the weekends of April 28, May 5 and May 12.
However, The Star reported today that a digital clock at the Wanita Umno office in Kuala Lumpur is counting down the days to GE14, creating a media buzz.
It said that the clock displayed on a TV screen hung on the wall at the lobby of the office located at Level 37 of Menara Dato’ Onn shows that there are 49 days to go, with the clock counting down the hours, minutes and seconds to zero – which means the polling date would be May 3.
When asked about the countdown by reporters, Wanita Umno chief Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the countdown is based on five years after GE13 which was held on May 5, 2013.
“It is just for our internal benchmarking to gauge the readiness of our preparations.
“However, I think that the coming general election may be earlier than this date (May 3),” she was quoted saying.