Parliament dissolved paving way for 13th General Elections

PUTRAJAYA: Parliament has been dissolved today paving the way for what has been billed as the ‘Mother of All General Elections’.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the dissolution of Parliament during a live telecast at 11.30am today. Exactly four years ago on April 3rd, 2009, he was sworn in as the Prime Minister after (now Tun) Ahmad Badawi bin Abdullah had resigned as Prime Minister following the poor performance during the 12th General Election in 2008.

In the live address over television, Najib said he had obtained the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, to dissolve the 12th Parliament.

Malaysians have been waiting with bated breath for the 13th General Elections to be held as some feel the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat, which managed to deny Barisan Nasional (BN) a two-thirds majority for the first time in the 2008 General Elections, have an outside chance of creating even more history by winning and forming the next Federal Government.

Speculation on when GE13 would be held had been rife from as early as March last year and lots of ground-shaking events had taken place in the past year such as the violent Bersih rally last year and the recent intrusion in Lahad Datu by the so-called ‘royal army’ of the Sultan of Sulu.

Lots of handouts have been distributed including BR1M and just yesterday, RM1,000 bonuses to Petronas staff.

During the 2008 General Election, of the total 222 seats up for grabs, BN won 140 seats beating PR which won 82 seats.

However, in 2008 the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) pulled out of BN and turned independant, and Barisan lost two of its MPs. In 2012 two others - Beaufort MP Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin and Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing – made the same move.

Pakatan Rakyat won a record number of state seats during the 2008 GE and won control of five states –  Selangor, Kelantan, Perak, Kedah and Penang.

The Perak Pakatan Rakyat state government was toppled in 2009  when three PR state legislators defected. The Sultan of Perak then refused Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin’s request to dissolve the state assembly and call for new elections. BN with support from the three defecting assemblymen (Deputy Speaker Hee Yit Foong, senior state Executive Council member Jamaluddin Mohd. Radzi and Osman Jailu) formed a new state government.