Malaysian Parliament dissolved today

PM calls news conference, expected to announce elections

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called an unscheduled news conference Wednesday, intensifying speculation that he will dissolve Parliament and announce the general election.

National news agency Bernama issued an “urgent note to editors” informing them about a news conference by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at 12:30pm.

Abdullah’s five-year mandate runs through mid-2009, but he can ask the king, the constitutional monarch, to dissolve Parliament before the period has expired.

Elections must be conducted within 60 days after Parliament is dissolved, but most recent national ballots have been held less than three weeks after that.

Abdullah led his Barisan Nasional coalition to a landslide victory in the last elections in 2004, when it won 90% of parliamentary seats.

But coalition leaders have acknowledged they are unlikely to repeat the feat amid challenges such as rising inflation, crime and tensions in this multiracial society because of dissatisfaction among ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities over alleged discrimination. — AP