July 24 fixed for Kuala Besut by-election
Polling for the Kuala Besut by-election has been fixed for July 24, with the nomination day being July 12, the Election Commission (EC) announced today. Advanced poling will be held on July 20.
Polling for the Kuala Besut by-election has been fixed for July 24, which is a Wednesday.
The nomination day is July 12, which is a Friday and a state holiday.
Announcing this today, the Election Commission (EC) also said that advanced polling will be held on July 20, a Saturday.
This provides for a 12-day campaign period, which means that the whole by-election will take place during the fasting month of Ramadan.
The by-election follows the death of the incumbent assemblyperson Dr A Rahman Mokhtar on June 26, paving the way for Malaysia's first by-election since the 13th general election just two months ago.
EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the campaigning already started the day after Rahman passed away.
"We don't want to prolong this (unofficial campaigning). The longer we delay the date of the by-election, the longer the campaign during the fasting month. We have discussed this issue and decided to do it early," Aziz said.
For this year, Ramadan is expected to start on July 9, and is expected to end on Aug 7, with Hari Raya Aidilfitri falling on the next day.
On Communications Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek's proposal for RTM to provide live broadcast of the vote-counting process, Aziz said 'no'.
He said the EC felt this was not necessary because the agents of the election candidates would be present at the counting centres.
Also the EC feels it would not be able to turn down requests from other broadcasters if it allows RTM to record the process, he added.
Aziz argued that allowing RTM to do so would mean opening the doors to other TV stations as the EC cannot prevent others from applying for the same privilege as well.
"The EC is an independent body and we have to also consider other applications," he said.
If there is to be any recording, he said, it should be done by the EC and not by a third party.
However, the commission is prepared to discuss the matter further with the government for future elections, he added.
For the Kuala Besut election, Aziz said the electoral roll up to June 26 would be used, involving 16,534 normal voters, 1,134 military personnel and their spouses, 14 police personnel and one overseas absentee voter, spread over nine polling stations.
He said those living abroad eligible for postal voting have until nomination day to apply to do so, while for media and electoral workers, the deadline is July 14.
The by-election will be managed by Besut district land officer A Rahim Jusoh as returning officer.
Rahim will be assisted by three assistant returning officers and 305 election workers at an estimated cost of RM760,000.
No international observers at polls
No international observers will be present at the by-election.
However, two NGOs, Majlis Belia Malaysia (MBM) and Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) have been invited to do so, he said.
Asked about the possibility of a hung state assembly in the event the Pakatan Rakyat wins, Abdul Aziz admitted this issue was overlooked during the last re-delineation exercise.
He said the EC would ensure that state assemblies and parliamentary constituencies would comprise an odd number of seats with this year’s re-delineation exercise.
The commission is powerless to resolve a hung assembly, it is up to politicians to resolve any deadlock, he said.
If that fails, he added, the sultan may intervene, and failure means calling for a state election.
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