COMMENT The double BN win in the Batu Sapi and Galas by-elections has raised the possibility that the 13th General Election and the next Sarawak state election will be held simultaneously.

Constitutionally, the 13th GE is not due until 2013 but Prime Minister Najib Razak would want to hold it much earlier - next year in all likelihood - for as with all newly-minted PMs, he requires his own mandate to introduce changes. Sarawak has to go to the polls by July next year at the latest.

Pundits are fingering April as the most likely month because Chief Minister Taib Mahmud is the sort of man who would want to...