“Why waste our time with too much politicking? If you ask the opposition, of course they want an early election." -Tuan Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
KUCHING: Politicians from both sides of the political divide have mixed views on whether Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Adenan Satem would call for an early state election following a landslide victory scored by Barisan Nasional (BN) in the recent Balingian by-election.
Assistant Minister of Youth Development Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, when contacted said the good election result scored by BN in Balingian did not necessarily mean that Adenan would call for an early state election.
Abdul Karim, who is Assistant Housing Minister, doubted there would be any snap polls as the term of the present State Legislative Assembly would expire on June 20, 2016.
“Why waste our time with too much politicking? If you ask the opposition, of course they want an early election.
“It is because they have nothing else better to do. For BN, upon winning, we have to address the Rakyat’s needs. When the term expires, then we call for a fresh election,” said the Asajaya assemblyman.
Yussibnosh Balo from BN won the by-election beating PKR candidate Abdul Jalil Bujang by 6,911 votes.
Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen, who shared the view that an early state election was unlikely to happen, said although BN won with a huge majority, the votes for Pakatan Rakyat also increased a lot.
Chong, who is Bandar Kuching MP, speculated that the state election could be held next year, probably
before the implementation of goods and services tax (GST) which is on April 1, 2015.
Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian remained optimistic that an early election would be held between this September and September next year.
The state PKR chairman said the victory in Balingian by-election would make it more plausible for Adenan to call for an early state election.
“As the new chief minister, he (Adenan) needs the mandate from the people.
“The recent win in the Balingian by-election will make it more plausible for him to call for an early state election.”
Political analyst Dr Jeniri Amir, who also did not think that an early state election would be called, said before making a decision on the state election, there are other considerations that Adenan needed to consider
“One of them is the internal squabble in SUPP (Sarawak United People’s Party) and SPDP (Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party) problems have to be solved first,” Jeniri, who is Universiti Malaysia Sarawak senior lecturer said.
Jeniri believed the state election could be held as early as the third quarter of 2015.
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