Photograph: Kwong Wah Yit Poh

Rules surrounding elections in Malaysia are intricate. Now when some states are governed by parties opposed to the federal government, things get even more complicated–and exciting. Perhaps it is time to fix a universal voting day. 

(From Penang Monthly): Speculation is rife that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak will call for the 13th General Election this year. Rumours are aplenty on the actual date – and most consider either June or September to be the favourable months, after considering various factors, which include the school holidays, Malaysia’s multiple cultural festivals, the public listing of Felda Holdings, and so on.

The present parliament must be dissolved by April 28, 2013 and polls held by June 27 that year. The strongest reason for Najib to call for a relatively “early” election would be to validate his position as Prime Minister. In the past, Malaysian Prime Ministers with no mandate from their electorate would call for an election early in their premiership to achieve exactly that, which in this case has been difficult to execute, given public sentiment and economic conditions.

For Najib therefore, choosing a date will purely be about immediate strategic advantages.

In March, Pakatan Rakyat (Pakatan) leader Anwar Ibrahim said that the Pakatan state governments may not hold elections concurrently with the national polls should the Election Commission (EC) fail to implement meaningful electoral reforms (in response to the parliamentary select committee’s recommendations). Prior to this, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim was quoted as saying that Selangor would not participate in the polls if it was called any time earlier than June 2012.

Legally speaking 
This bold statement is based on the assumption that the decision to dissolve a state’s legislative assembly and thereby call for an election lies entirely with the executive head of state in question, in the case of Penang and Selangor, the Chief Minister and the Menteri Besar respectively. However, is this really so, and what does the law say about it? Can these two Pakatan states choose not to go to the polls?

Both the Penang and Selangor State Constitutions have broadly similar provisions outlining the manner and authority through which their respective assemblies’ dissolution is to take place. In the case of Penang, it is the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri (YDPN) who is to dissolve the legislative assembly, whereas in Selangor this responsibility is placed with the Sultan of Selangor. Once the state assemblies are dissolved, both constitutions stipulate that a general election is to be held within 60 days from the date of the dissolution.

However, both the YDPN of Penang and the Sultan of Selangor are expected to act upon the consultation and advice of their state governments – the YDPN through consultation with the Chief Minister and the State Executive Council, and the Sultan with the advice of the State Executive Council – and such consultation is also required for the dissolution of the state assembly. In fact, following the consultation, it is also mandatory for the YDPN and the Sultan to thereafter act in accordance with such consultation.

The YDPN or Sultan therefore cannot choose to dissolve the state assembly on their own independent decision without consulting the state Chief Minister and Executive Council (in Penang) and the Executive Council (in Selangor). However, if the Chief Minister or Menteri Besar in Penang and Selangor respectively ceases to command the confidence of the majority of the legislative assembly members, and if he does not request for dissolution (to which the YDPN or Sultan would oblige), the YDPN or Sultan does have the authority to tender the resignation of the entire state executive council.

Another interesting aspect is that the YDPN or Sultan can choose to withhold consent to a request by the Chief Minister or Menteri Besar to dissolve the legislative assembly . This is where the YDPN’s and the Sultan’s personal discretion is maintained, and therefore not required to act on advice.

What this all means simply is that if the Penang and Selangor state governments do opt out of an early election with the rest of the country, they are theoretically allowed to do so, in accordance with their state constitutions. However, this has never been done before in these states. In the 1999 General Election, however, the states of Sabah and Sarawak did choose not to hold their state elections on the same day as the parliamentary elections.

Pakatan Rakyat representatives in the Selangor state assembly.
Photograph: roketkini.com

Political calculations
There are different arguments as to whether or not the Pakatan states should participate in the polls simultaneously should Najib call an early election. On the one hand, holding elections together would make more sense for several reasons.

First, it would be more cost efficient, since political parties would only have to spend on campaign materials that one time. Second, should state polls be held separately, it would be disadvantageous for the Pakatan states to confront Barisan Nasional (BN) under such circumstances where the latter can concentrate its financial resources on just those states.

On the other hand, it would be best to push for a maximum term of the full five years, where the Pakatan states can truly perform and demonstrate the effectiveness of their governments’ policies and programmes.

But if Najib were to call for early elections, and the Pakatan states choose not to participate, Najib would be in a fix. Winning back the states previously lost to Pakatan forms a large part of his campaign. He would also be forced to draw from political funds a second time round.

Other factors would come into play, since the results of the general election would invariably affect voter sentiments going into a full-term state election in Pakatan states, depending on whether the outcome leans to the BN’s or Pakatan’s advantage. But Najib would also have to consider the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) party election, which is due within months of the end of this parliamentary term, itself a long-drawn out exercise that would also require vast resources.

Predicting the general election date has become somewhat of a guessing game that exhausts tremendous time and energy – time that could be well spent on actual governing of the country. Perhaps it is time Malaysia considers walking in the footsteps of the UK, which has recently passed into law the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Under the Act, parliamentary elections are fixed, to be held every five years (this will begin from 2015). Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in his Parliamentary speech said that “by setting the date that parliament will dissolve, (the) Prime Minister is giving up the right to pick and choose the date of the next general election…” (BBC News Online, July 22, 2010). Similarly, Election Day in the US is set by law to take place on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

Fixing the date of the elections would relieve Malaysians of unpredictability and speculation, and would provide some semblance of stability in what is a potentially unstable political environment. It would also remove the arbitrary manner in which the Prime Minister and EC currently decide on the election date. This would also ensure a level-playing field where all political parties, civil society and the public are able to plan and prepare their campaigns in advance.

Whether or not the Pakatan states choose to participate in the event of an early general election, it is clear that Malaysians will continue to be subject to intense political drama in the coming months. We can merely hope for some measure of wisdom and rationality amidst what will most likely be an election full of intrigue, debate and shadow-play.