GEORGE TOWN, June 29 — Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow feels that it would be ideal to hold nominations of candidates about three weeks after the dissolution of state legislative assemblies to pave the way for elections in six states.
He said this would give political parties enough time to organise and activate their election machinery.
“This Wednesday (June 28) marks an important date, the dissolution of the Penang State Assembly. It also puts an end to speculation on the dissolution; Now, speculation will turn to the dates for nominations and polling,” he told Bernama in an exclusive interview recently.
The Penang State Assembly was dissolved yesterday and the state elections must be held within 60 days.
Chow, who is Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, said several matters needed to be undertaken by parties after the dissolution, including drawing up their election manifesto, appointing polling station and counting centre agents, and preparing publicity materials.
“Once nominations are over, the election campaign machinery will get moving, with face-to-face visits to voters, distribution of leaflets and use of social media to get our message across to voters. This will go on until polling day.
“We need to organise these activities because they have their own processes, like what needs to be prioritised,” he said.
On a personal note, he said the last few days before dissolution proved to be a significant part of his political journey as it marked the end of his current term as chief minister.
After the 14th general election (GE14) on May 9, 2018, the Penang State Assembly met for the first time on Aug 2, 2018 and its five-year mandate was due to end on Aug 1.
In GE14, PH won 37 of the 40 state seats contested in Penang, including two by Bersatu, which was then part of the coalition. Barisan Nasional (BN) won two seats and PAS took one.
Just before the dissolution, PH had 33 seats, BN (two) and PAS (one). Bersatu used to have four representatives but the state assembly approved a motion in March this year to strip them of their seats under the state’s anti-party hopping law.
Apart from Penang, the other states due to hold their state elections in the coming weeks are Kedah, Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Kelantan.
