They said the DAP-led Penang government is keen on holding its state polls concurrently with the 15th general election (GE15) as the leaders are concerned about voter fatigue.

This would see many staying away from the state election if it was held next year, they said.

On top of that, those staying outside the state, especially in Singapore, would be deterred from returning home twice to vote because of costs.

Selangor is a done deal as the sultan is not in favour of simultaneous elections, while Negeri Sembilan announced that it would most likely hold its state election next year, though it is waiting for the PH presidential council’s decision.

The DAP central executive committee is set to hold an “emergency” meeting tonight to decide on the state election, among others, while PKR is expected to decide by tomorrow.

Before this, the PH states had repeatedly said they would hold separate elections if Parliament was dissolved this year. However, this was apparently aimed at discouraging the prime minister from calling for snap polls.

One source said DAP wanted to be pragmatic as the chances of backlash from voters are real if they are forced to spend a lot of money to return twice to vote.

“We stand to lose even our hardcore supporters who would see this as an insensitive decision,” the source said.

“This will cause much inconvenience and the people will lose faith in our ability to make calls that can benefit them.

“The people will also be angry for causing the government to spend more money because of separate elections.”

Another source said that in the event of a BN-led victory in the parliamentary elections, it was highly likely that the Malay-based parties will unite and form a coalition.

“This will mean that the ruling party will have the might of the whole government machinery and lots of money to win back states like Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, which have many Malay-majority seats,” the source said.

This could see PH swept away in the state polls.

PKR, which leads the PH governments in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, is said to be banking on its view that it could focus on the parliamentary elections, since it had more effective machinery on the ground in the states it governed.

“They may be right, but the party leaders are overlooking the fact that they cannot match the machinery and power of a federal government in a state election.

“This is if BN wins and/or forms a coalition with the other Malay-based parties,” he said.