DEWAN Negara’s meeting has been brought forward, a further sign Parliament will be dissolved soon for the 14th general election.

According to a circular released by the Senate, the upper house will start meeting from March 26 and conclude on the same day as the Dewan Rakyat on April 5.

The Senate was initially slated to have its meeting from April 16 to April 30.

The rescheduling of the senate meeting is yet another indication the Dewan Rakyat may be dissolved shortly after April 5.

The Barisan Nasional is set to unveil its election manifesto on April 7.

This would be the first time the sittings run concurrently.

It is possible as Parliament has the logistics to accommodate the Dewan Negara sitting.

The latest dates changes earlier speculation Parliament would be dissolved at the end of March after the new redelineation draft motion is tabled and endorsed by Dewan Rakyat.

The reason being the electoral redelineation motion only needs approval in the lower house.

However, a supplementary budget bill was tabled today in Dewan Rakyat seeking additional funding of RM7.12 billion.

This bill needs the approval of Dewan Negara.

Also in the pipeline is Putrajaya’s plans to introduce legislation on Fake News which needs to be endorsed by both chambers.

The Election Commission must call a general election within 60 days of Parliament being dissolved, but normally does it earlier.

For the 13th general election, Parliament was dissolved on April 3, 2013 and the general election was on May 5 with a 15-day campaigning period beginning April 20. – March 19, 2018.