Penang, Kedah and Terengganu assemblies officially dissolved

KUALA LUMPUR: The Penang, Kedah and Terengganu state legislative assemblies have been officially dissolved as of Wednesday (June 28).

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow announced the dissolution at a press conference on Tuesday (June 27) after receiving the consent of Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak.

Assembly Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang handed the official notification to Penang Election Commission (EC) director Dr Siti Nazariah Abdul Zalim on Tuesday to enable the state election to be held.

The 14th Kedah state assembly was also dissolved on Wednesday, with the consent of Sultan Al-Aminul Karim Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah obtained on Sunday (June 25).

Meanwhile, Terengganu assembly Speaker Datuk Yahaya Ali said a representative had presented the dissolution notification letter to state Election Commission (EC) deputy director Muhammad Salahuddin Salleh on Tuesday (June 27).

The dissolution received the consent of state Ruler, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, after Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar had an audience to present the date of the assembly dissolution at Istana Syarqiyyah here on Tuesday.

Penang, Kedah and Terengganu are among the six states that will hold elections soon, apart from Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Kelantan.

In GE14 in 2018, Pakatan Harapan won 37 of the 40 state seats in Penang, including two secured by Bersatu when it was with the coalition, while Barisan Nasional obtained two and PAS, one.

In February 2020, Bersatu announced that it was quitting Pakatan to join Perikatan Nasional, and its two representatives – Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq (Bertam) and Zolkifli Md Lazim (Teluk Bahang) – withdrew their support for the state government.

The crisis in PKR also saw two of its assemblymen sacked, namely Dr Afif Bahardin (Seberang Jaya) and Zulkifli Ibrahim (Sungai Acheh).

Kedah has 36 state seats, with 20 under Perikatan, 10 under Pakatan, and two each for Barisan Nasional and Pejuang.

Two seats are vacant.

Gurun assemblyman Datuk Johari Abdul of PKR vacated his seat on Dec 18 last year when he was appointed Dewan Rakyat Speaker; while Belantek representative Datuk Mohd Isa Shafie passed away on June 14.

In Terengganu, PAS formed the state government after GE14, winning 22 out of 32 seats. Barisan won the remaining 10.

Terengganu saw no by-elections throughout its five-year term. – Bernama