Still acting as a component party in BN, with the new chairman, SPR on Friday announced the nomination and polling date for Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau to be at the end of the 60 days limit. In my humble opinion, this is to give way for UMNO to settle their tussle in UMNO 2009 general assembly. I think this is the first by-election that the date is been fixed towards the end of the 60 days limit because of a certain agenda which is all of you might know.... If you aware, the Permatang Pauh by-election was carried out during PAS muktamar.... and the other things in which the nomination and polling date are fixed on the normal weekdays and the school is not on holiday. Are they going to stop the schooling on that polling day? Lastly, what a joke, is when the new SPR chairman said that he is targetting to see a 90% voter turnout while they've interrupt the school operation and at the same time the polling fixed on weekdays... Believe it, you've to believe it.....because it is Malaysia...
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/13/nation/20090213120608&sec=nation
Published: Friday February 13, 2009 MYT 12:07:00 PM
Updated: Friday February 13, 2009 MYT 3:32:46 PM
By-elections: Nomination on March 29, polling April 7 (Update 2)
By DHARMENDER SINGH
PUTRAJAYA: The by-elections for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat and Bukit Selambau state seat will be held simultaneously, with nominations held on March 29 and polling on April 7.
Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the Commission decided to hold the by-elections simultaneously to keep the campaign period shorter.
He said the dates were chosen taking into account the comfort and convenience of all involved, as a shorter campaign period would be less hectic for party leaders and help towards maintaining public order and security.
He said the Commission, which discussed the by-elections during a special meeting Friday morning, pushed the nomination date to almost the end of March as it thought this would allow the current political situation in Perak to cool off.
Bukit Gantang is located in the state of Perak, which just saw a swicth in governments.
“But at the same time the laws state that by-elections must be held within 60 days of a seat becoming vacant; the period for the Bukit Selambau state seat expires on April 9, so we decided to choose April 7 for polling,” he told a press conference here.
The Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in Perak fell vacant following the death of its MP Roslan Shahrum on Feb 9, while the Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah fell vacant after its assemblyman V. Arumugam resigned on Feb 8.
Abdul Aziz also said that the decision for the simultaneous by-elections was not due to any political reason and this was not the first time that the Commission had made such a decision.
He said the same had been done 17 times since 1975, with the last being for the by-elections for the Pendang parliamentary seat and Anak Bukit state seat in Kedah in 2002.
Asked if having polling day on a Tuesday would affect voter turnout, he said he did not think so as the lower turnout during the recent by-election in Kuala Terengganu had shown that people would stay away or return to vote regardless of whether it was a weekend or weekday.
“We are hoping to see a 90% voter turnout and I urge voters to turn out in force to carry out their responsibility,” he said.
Abdul Aziz said the Commission had decided that the master electoral roll for 2007, combined with the list of new voters registered until the first quarter of 2008, would be used for both constituencies.
According to the list, he said, there were 55,562 registered voters including 136 postal voters in the Bukit Gantang parliamentary constituency, and 35,140 voters including 15 postal voters at the Bukit Selambau state constituency.
The nomination and counting centres in Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau will be set up at the Taiping Municipal Council and SMK Teknik I Sungai Petani halls respectively.
He said registered voters could check for their information and polling stations on the Commission website at www.spr.gov.my or by typing SPR and their identity card number and sending an SMS to 15888.
They can also call the Commission headquarters in Putrajaya or their state Commission office.
Abdul Aziz said the Commission would also set up three Campaign Enforcement teams comprising a police officer, local authority representative and representatives of the candidates to monitor the activities from nomination day to the end of polling at 5pm on April 7.
The Commission, he said, had also agreed to allow Malaysia For Free and Fair Election (Mafrel) to act as an observer during the by-elections.
He also urged all quarters to obey the directives from the police in order to maintain security during the nominations, campaigning and polling.
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