PRESENT POINT POWER

UPDATE: February 13, 2008 16:34 PM

EC Will Announce Nomination, Polling Dates Tomorrow
PUTRAJAYA Feb 13(Bernama) -- The Election Commission (EC) will meet tomorrow to set the nomination and polling dates for the 12th general election. Its chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid (BELOW) Abdul Rahman, said today that in choosing the dates, the EC would be considering several matters including the country's situation and public security. "The EC will give a suitable timeframe for the nomination, campaigning and then polling," he said in an interview with RTM shortly after Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the dissolution of Parliament today, paving way for the general election. Rashid said the EC would study the current situation to ensure that the general election would be held in a safe and conducive environment.

ABOVE: The EC Chairman "actor" always appearing to be "fair & clean" in his views on the election

The Election Commission (EC) was also not in favour of a short campaigning period for the 12th general election as it wanted all parties to feel comfortable, he said. Abdul Rashid said the EC wanted to allow all parties ample time to pick their candidates and have a comfortable timeframe for campaigning. "This is no small matter. As such, all parties should be given the opportunity to campaign. If not, it can be seen as unfair," he told reporters at his office later. He said the EC meeting tomorrow would fix the nomination and polling dates and a suitable campaigning period for the general election. About 200,000 EC workers will be involved in the general election which will cost RM200 million, the highest in the history of general elections in Malaysia. "The budget is increasing due to higher labour costs and additional polling centres. The last general election budget was RM115 million," Rashid said.

He said the election in Sarawak would cost the most, at RM30 million, this time as helicopters had to be deployed. On whether indelible ink would still be used as there was some opposition, he said it would be known tomorrow as it had to be discussed with the EC panel members. "A decision to use it had already been made but it does not mean that it will be implemented."It has yet to be decided by the EC panel members. We will be discussing it at the meeting tomorrow and make a decision," he said. On the dissolution of parliament today which denied Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) founder Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim the chance to contest, he said he could not comment as it involved the law. "I cannot comment on individuals and the law. You have to ask the legal officers." He added that no new political parties would be contesting in the 12th general election as none had registered their symbols with the EC.

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Parliament dissolved

By : NST NEWSDESK; KUALA LUMPUR, WED:

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the dissolution of Parliament today at 12:34pm at the Prime Minister's Department in Putrajaya. The announcement paves the way for the 12th general election.
The prime minister also advised all State governments, except Sarawak, to dissolve their respective State assemblies to enable the state elections to be held simultaneously. The dissolution of this Parliament was made 15 months before the expiry of its five-year term on May 16, 2009. Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman has said that the EC would meet tomorrow to decide on the dates for nomination and polling for the general election. He said this in an interview with the RTM today. The programme was aired after the announcement of the dissolution of Parliament by the Prime Minister.

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Wednesday February 13, 2008; MYT 1:10:44 PM

Parliament dissolved, elections on

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has announced that Parliament has been dissolved, paving the way for the 12th general election. At a hastily convened press conference at his office Wednesday afternoon, he said he had met the Yang Di Pertuan Agong in the morning and received His Majesty's consent to dissolve Parliament.

ABOVE: The Palace gates of the Agong

"I've informed Parliament and the Election Commission," Abdullah said. The state assemblies have also been advised to dissolve????????. The Prime Minister declined to speculate on what date Malaysians would cast their ballots, saying that it would be up to the Election Commission (EC) to decide. "I am confident of winning, and I hope that we will retain our two-thirds majority," he said. The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition swept to a landslide victory in the last general election in 2004.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission said it would announce polling and nomination day on Thursday at its office in Putrajaya.

The Election Commission held several meetings Wednesday in preparation for the Prime Minister's announcement of the dissolution of Parliament. “We have got the declaration on the dissolution of Parliament by the Yang Di Pertuan Agong and the announcement of nomination and polling will be done tomorrow," said EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman.

When asked if nomination day was February 21 and election day on March 2nd, he said: “You can speculate anything you want. The official announcement is tomorrow. “You wait for the official announcement,” he added.
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Parliament Dissolved Today For 12th General Election

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today announced the dissolution of Parliament to pave the way for the 12th general election. The announcement was made at a media conference at his office here and telecast live on RTM1 at noon. The prime minister also advised all the state governments, except Sarawak, to dissolve their state assemblies to enable the state elections to be held simultaneously.

He said he had an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong (ABOVE) Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin this morning and had received his consent to dissolve the 11th Parliament.
The dissolution of this Parliament was made 15 months before the expiry of its five-year term on May 16, 2009.

The Election Commission (EC) is expected to meet soon to fix the dates for nominations and polling. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, who was present when the announcement was made, expressed the hope that the general election would run smoothly. He said the Barisan Nasional (BN) hoped to retain the two-thirds majority that it received in the 11th general election in 2004. He said the BN machinery was ready for the general election.

"The list of candidates has been fixed," he said, adding that the BN would field new faces as well as the old guard and would announce the names in a day or two.

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February 12, 2008 20:27 PM

Parliament Will Not Be Dissolved Tomorrow, Says Abdullah

BANGI, Feb 12 (Bernama) -- Parliament will not be dissolved tomorrow to pave the way for the 12th general election, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today. "No, not tomorrow," he told reporters. Asked whether tomorrow's Cabinet meeting would be the last before the dissolution of Parliament, he said: "What makes you think it's going to be the last Cabinet meeting. "The Cabinet meeting will go on, go on and go on. You are the smart aleck, you all enjoy circulating the rumours," he said with a smile. Speculation has been rife that Parliament would be dissolved soon.

Political analysts and the media had predicted that the much-awaited dissolution would be tomorrow (Feb 13) because 13 is the prime minister's favourite number. Asked on the performance of the Barisan Nasional (BN) elected representatives, Abdullah said he was very happy with their performance.
"Generally, they (elected representatives) had succeeded in discharging the responsibilities entrusted to them. "The tasks they had carried out had also fulfilled the aspiration of the people and country," he said. The Prime Minister said he was also satisfied with the implementation of projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) which was now progressing well. "I find that the implementation of almost all the projects mentioned in the 9MP had started," he said. He said the implementation was carried out in several stages and was progressing as scheduled. On the statement by the Election Commission (EC) that recounting of votes would only be made when the difference in the votes was four per cent compared to two per cent previously, Abdullah said: "I will follow whatever the EC says."

= == = =Watch the Video Clip Announcement - Plus Q & A (Speeded up 20%, 4 .21 min)

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