EC receives notification on dissolution of Melaka State Assembly

PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission (EC) has been officially notified about the dissolution of the 14th Melaka State Legislative Assembly.

EC secretary Datuk Ikmalrudin Ishak in a statement today said the Commission received the official notification about the dissolution of the State Assembly on Oct 4 from the State Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh himself.

Ikmalrudin said based on Article 19 (4) of the Melaka State Constitution, a state election must be held within 60 days after the date of the dissolution of the State Assembly.

"The EC will hold a special meeting to discuss the implementation of the state election," he said adding that the date of the meeting will be announced later.

Earlier, Ab Rauf announced that the State Assembly has officially been dissolved, effective Oct 4, upon consent by Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Rustam and that the Proclamation of the Dissolution of the 14th State Assembly was gazetted today.

This followed the move by four assemblymen in declaring that they have lost confidence in Datuk Sulaiman Md Ali's leadership, hence causing the state government led by Barisan Nasional (BN) to collapse.

The assemblymen are former Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron (BN-Sungai Udang), Datuk Nor Azman Hassan (BN-Pantai Kundor), Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Independent-Pengkalan Batu) and Datuk Noor Effandi Ahmad (Bersatu-Telok Mas).

Ab Rauf said the existing state government would act as a caretaker government until after the state election.

-- BERNAMA