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Report: BN strategists expect late April polls
Published:  Mar 5, 2018 12:06 PM
Updated: 6:46 AM

BN's strategists expect the 14th general election to be held by the third week of April, according to the Singapore Straits Times.

"We expect the voting day to be held by the third week of April and preparations are already being made to identify white, grey or black areas," a BN insider told the newspaper.

The insider has reportedly been part of BN's "main election war room" since the 2008 election.

For the general election to be held by late April, it would likely mean that Parliament has to be dissolved this month, mid-way through the ongoing Dewan Rakyat session.

The main agenda for this session is the debate on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's speech and, at the time of writing, there are only three government matters on the Order Paper.

This is likely a case of Putrajaya holding back the passing of bills this session in expectation of the dissolution of Parliament.

It also cannot be ascertained if this would mean that the election would be based on existing electoral boundaries, as reports suggest that the government intends to push through the redelineation proposal.

Furthermore, a late April date would not clash with any major festival, important school exams or coincide with school holidays.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has until mid-June to call the polls, but he is likely to do so ahead of Ramadan, which begins on May 14.

The Straits Times report also stated that BN is currently in high gear and its respective state chapters are preparing for "dry runs" to test the coalition's polling day logistics.

During polling day, political parties typically field election scrutineers and deploy resources to motivate their supporters to line up for the ballot boxes.

"Basically, it will be a practice run of the operational procedures on polling day, as well as to test out the polling day machinery," said Selangor Umno deputy chief Mat Nadzari.


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