Opposition parties ready to face GE15 despite concerns about floods

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition parties in the country will immediately activate their election machinery to prepare for the 15th General Election (GE15) although almost every party expressed concern about the imminent risk of floods due to the Northeast Monsoon season.

DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said the party respects the dissolution of parliament that was done in accordance with Federal Constitution although the DAP does not welcome the GE15 being held during the Monsoon season which leads to the risk of floods.

Loke said the DAP Central Executive Committee will immediately convene an emergency meeting tomorrow (Tuesdy) to discuss preparations for the coming GE15.

"DAP will continue to support the decision made by the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council to not dissolve the state assemblies in Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. The decision was made to enable the states to focus on prepations to face the possibility of floods," he said in a statement today.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had today announced the dissolution of Parliament which was telecast live, claiming the dissolution of Parliament was made to put a stop to all the voices questioning the legitimacy of the backdoor government and parachute candidates.

The prime minister said through the dissolution of Parliament, the mandate to elect a strong, stable and respectable government will be handed back to the people.

With the dissolution of the 14th Parliament, the prime minister advised all heads of state governments to seek the consent of the rulers and governors to dissolve their respective state assemblies so that the state elections can be held simultaneously with the GE15.

The five-year mandate of the current government will expire in July 2023, and according to Article 55 (4) of the Federal Constitution, the GE15 must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of Parliament.

PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli through his Twitter account said the party would do its best and that the time has come to switch into high gear to prepare for the GE15 although the party had already started campaigning on a moderate scale in recent months.

"Like I have always said, winning and losing is decided by GOD the almighty. What is important is we must work hard to ensure the country is back on the right track and continues to progress," he said.

Parti Ikatan Demokratik Malaysia (MUDA) president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman expressed disappointment over the rationale and timing to hold the GE15, especially with the prospect of floods looming and the possibility of campaigning during floods.

"Thousands of people in the country are being continuosly affected by floods. In the past 10 days, many places have been affected by floods," he said in his Facebook posting.

Meanwhile, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) deputy president Datuk Marzuki Yahya said Pejuang had planned to contest under the Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) banner, but since GTA's application has not been approved by the Registrar of Societies (RoS), there is a need to look at other options.

"We (Pejuang) are all under GTA, our candidates will be all GTA candidates. Now I think maybe these one or two days we want to decide because GTA has not been approved yet, so we will go for the second option," said Marzuki who is also the GTA chief secretary, when contacted.

He added that though the dissolution of parliament was not expected by the party, the party would start preparing for the GE15.

GTA was a coalition set up on Aug 4, comprising Pejuang, Parti Perikatan India Muslim Nasional (Iman), Parti Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (Berjasa) and Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) and as of today, Gagasan Bangsa Malaysia also offered to work with GTA.

-- BERNAMA