Ending months of speculation, Malaysian Premier Abdullah Badawi on Wednesday dissolved the Parliament to pave the way for snap elections, in which his ruling coalition is expected to emerge as a winner but with a reduced majority.
 
Abdullah said the Malaysian King has given his approval for dissolving the Parliament so that the elections could be held early. The states have also been advised to dissolve their assemblies, effective from today, he told reporters, adding that the date for the polls would be decided by the Election Commission.
 
Elections must be conducted within 60 days after Parliament is dissolved and the Malaysians are expected to go to poll in early March.
 
Malaysian opposition leader and former Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, meanwhile, described as shameful the government's decision to hold snap elections.
 
Anwar, the leader of Kedilan party, who is currently in Hong Kong, was jailed in 1998 on corruption charges. He has been barred from politics until April.  "The so-called elections are certainly not fair or free. There is no access to the media in Malaysia, the list of voters is still being challenged and there are hundreds and thousands of phantom voters," he was quoted as saying.
 
Abdullah, 67, had taken over nearly four years ago from veteran Mahathir Mohammad, who was prime minister for 22 years. The last general elections saw his Barisan Nasional coalition winning with a thumping majority.
 
The people of this multi-ethnic, multi-religious country welcomed him as 'Mr Clean' and he had promised to run his government with transparency.
 
Barisan Nasional comprises the UMNO, the majority Malay party, Malaysian Indian Congress and the Malaysian Chinese Association.
 
Ethnic Indians, mostly Hindus from Tamil Nadu, form 7.8 per cent of the 27 million population of Malaysia while Muslim Malays are 60 per cent and ethnic Chinese, mostly Buddhist and Christians, are 25 per cent.
 
However, four years on, people are unhappy over the growing crime rate and rising prices while ethnic communities, especially the minority Indians, feel marginalised. When the non-governmental Hindu Rights Action Force called for a massive rally of ethnic Indians on November 25, more than 20,000 turned up to protest their alleged marginalisation. The huge turnout surprised the government and Abdullah also used the controversial Internal Security Act to detain five Hindraf leaders.
 
Though the government denied the allegations, the top leaders vowed to look into grievances faced by the ethnic Indian community. They promised to look into sensitive issues like demolition of temples on illegal sites.
 
For Abdullah, victory of Barisan Nasional is certain in the coming polls but with a reduced majority.