DAP and Gerakan today slammed the Election Commission for being "insensitive" to Christian and Chinese Malaysians for scheduling nomination and polling days that coincide with religious festivals of the two communities.

Both parties are vying for the Ketari state seat. EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman announced last Wednesday that the nomination day has been fixed on March 23 and the by-election, March 31.

DAPs international secretary Teresa Kok said Easter, which falls on March 31, is one of Christianity's holiest days.

"As such, it means the ridiculously short eight days of campaigning will be held during the last week of Lent and through Good Friday (March 29), another Christian holy day," said Kok, who is also Seputeh member of Parliament.

"Besides, the polling day on March 31 falls only a few days short of Qing Ming, an annual occasion where the Chinese visit the graves of their loved ones," she added.

Kok said the EC should be "mindful" of communal sensitivities and ensure future by-election and election dates are not set to clash with festive and religious occasions.

Set later date

"I urge the EC to make amends by shifting the campaigning period after April 7 and prolonging the campaigning period so that the Christians and Chinese of Ketari have ample time to complete their religious and traditional obligations before setting aside time to attend ceramah (public talks) and to vote," she added.

Gerakan, too, conceded that the EC should be sensitive when picking the polling day.

However, we understand how difficult it is to choose a date in view of the many religious festivities in the country, Gerakan vice-president Dr S Vijayaratnam told malaysiakini .

But we have to remember that the longer the day is postponed, the longer the people of Ketari will be without a representative, he added.

The upcoming Ketari by-election will see a straight fight between Gerakans Yum Ah Ha and DAPs Choong Siew Onn.

The seat fell vacant following the death of Gerakan representative Loke Koon Kam. The late state assembly representative won with a slim 231-vote majority in the 1999 general elections, beating Choong. At that time, DAP was a Barisan Alternatif component party.

Sunday visit

Gerakan leaders will visit Ketari on Sunday to work out the party's strategies for the upcoming by-election.

According to the EC, the electoral rolls to be used in Ketari will be the one gazetted on Dec 27 last year and updated as of March 12.

Ketari has 17,143 registered voters, of which 95 are postal votes. Chinese Malaysians comprise 53.83 percent (9,228) of the constituency, Malay Malaysians 39.12 percent (6,706) and Indian Malaysians 5.21 percent (843).

The Orang Asli comprise 1.3 percent (223), bumiputra from Sabah and Sarawak 0.21 percent (36) and others 0.33 percent (57).