Muhyiddin: Go ahead, dissolve the state assembly

Barisan Nasional (BN) would not face problems if the Selangor government decided to dissolve the state assembly earlier to hold elections, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said BN would abide by whatever decision made by the Election Commission on the state government's move.

"I don't know whether it is true or not. Previously, they said a different thing and now, this. Does it mean that if there's no announcement from the prime minister on the dissolution of parliament, Selangor will hold the elections earlier?

"Based on the constitution, it (Selangor government) has the right to do so at the state level. It can advise the Sultan and seek consent to dissolve the state assembly in order to hold elections," he said after a closed-door meeting with Kelantan BN leaders, here, today.

The Umno deputy president who was on one-day working visit to the state, also held a special closed-door meeting with community leaders and representatives of non-governmental organisations at the same place.

He was asked to comment on Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim's statement yesterday that the state government intended to dissolve the state assembly after the Chap Goh Meh celebration next month.

Khalid said he would discuss the matter with the opposition group's top leaders before making the final decision.

Muhyiddin said from the aspect of managing the general election by the Election Commission, it would be better for the dissolution be done simultaneously with the other states to avoid incurring more manpower, time and higher expenditure if the elections were held separately.

On the findings of a survey done by the Graduate Affairs Foundation involving 3,000 respondents from three local public universities which showed Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be most popular and more qualified as prime minister compared to the opposiiton leaders, Muhyiddin said: "This shows that young people including university students have high regards for the prime minister for his credibility, capability and wisdom."

He said this was among the positive developments in BN and efforts would continue to convince the people that BN was really serious about helping them.

On the views of some quarters that BN would be able to win two-thirds majority in the upcoming 13th general election, Muhyiddin said: "It's good if they think that will be the case, but we the party leaders have our own way of ensuring that.

"We know our position but we don't have say it out, or people might think they don't need to give that much support to BN. But the important thing is, there's confidence in BN."

He said despite the various allegations made against BN by the opposition, it was clear that BN's position was stronger now.