ALOR STAR: Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah today announced the official dissolution of the 13th Kedah state assembly.
The Kedah Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman announced this after obtaining consent from the Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah, when he had an audience with the Ruler at Istana Darul Aman in Kuala Lumpur today.
“I had an audience with… Sultan Sallehuddin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah (and he gave) his consent for the dissolution of the state assembly to make way for the 14th general election (GE14).
“During the audience, the Sultan asked me to remind all political parties to protect the sanctity of mosques and suraus from being misused for political purposes,” Ahmad Bashah said in a statement today.
His announcement came after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement on Friday of the dissolution of Parliament, which takes effect today.
In his statement, Bashah said that with the dissolution of the state assembly, the government is returning power to the 1.2 million registered voters in Kedah to choose the new state government.
"I wish to reiterate that BN is committed to continuing with the development agenda in Kedah through various people-centric initiatives, including the Kedah Development Plan 2019-2035, and the BN Manifesto, which is practical and achievable," he said.
Ahmad Bashah said BN has a proven track record, with a development package that is appealing to all Kedahans, coupled with candidates preferred by the voters.
"Lets ‘muafakat’ (unite) for (a new BN) mandate which will continue to protect the state's peace and the sanctity of Islam.
"If BN is given a new mandate, as menteri besar, I wish to assure all that (we) will continue with all the plans in the pipeline which will benefit the current and future generations," he added.
Meanwhile, Bashah said that Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) decision to contest under the PKR symbol in the GE14 does not give them an advantage over BN.
He pointed out that the battle in previous general elections had always been between BN and Pas; and he feels that Pas is still the party to beat, despite the presence of PH in Kedah.
“We are not belittling any other party – but it is a clear fact that Pas is the strongest opposition party in Kedah,” he added.
