KUALA LUMPUR: The Negeri Sembilan state legislative assembly will be dissolved on Friday (Jun 5), more than two years before it is due, paving the way for snap polls to be held within 60 days.This came after Chief Minister Aminuddin Harun said in a hastily arranged press conference at 11.30pm on Thursday that the state’s ruler, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, had consented to his request to dissolve the state assembly.“The assembly will be dissolved effective tomorrow, Jun 5,” said Aminuddin, as quoted by news outlet Free Malaysia Today.“There is nothing surprising about this dissolution; people have already known about it since Wednesday. I am just confirming it today,” said Aminuddin, the Negeri Sembilan Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman.“We believe we need to return the mandate to the people to decide the future of Negeri Sembilan.”He added that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the PH chairman, had an audience with Tuanku Muhriz on Wednesday regarding the state assembly’s dissolution.Aminuddin also said PH aimed to contest all 36 seats and had finalised seat distributions among the coalition’s components.The announcement came after the southern state of Johor had earlier announced the dissolution of its own legislative assembly on Jun 1.With the dissolution of the Negeri Sembilan legislative assembly, an election must be called by the Election Commission within 60 days. Thus, the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election must be held by Aug 4. It was not initially due until November 2028. The last state polls were held on Aug 12, 2023.Negeri Sembilan is jointly run by two separate political coalitions - PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) - replicating a power-sharing model of the federal unity government. The 36-seat state assembly comprised 17 assemblypersons from PH, 14 from United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) - a lynchpin BN party - and five from the opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN).The snap polls came amid a backdrop of a recent leadership crisis in its state government. On Apr 27, the 14 UMNO assemblypersons withdrew their support for Aminuddin over his handling of a crisis involving the state monarchy but later said that they would maintain cooperation in the state. The exodus meant that Aminuddin had lost majority support in the state, although Anwar had called for continuity in the state administration and for Aminuddin to continue his duties as usual.To form the government in Negeri Sembilan state, 19 seats are needed.