GE14 | BN strategic communications deputy director Eric See-To has defended the Election Commission's move to hold polling day on Wednesday, May 9.

He said there must be a rationale behind this decision, and noted that not all states have the same working weekends.

Notably, Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan and Johor have their weekends on Friday and Saturday.

"If the election is set on a Sunday, it will not be fair to those states. Likewise, if an election was set on a Friday, it will not be fair to the other states.

"Similarly if the election was set on a Saturday, it will be a half working day for some while a full rest day for others," See-To said.

Companies that practice half working days on Saturdays only do so on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month.

"While I do not speak for the EC, I can understand that there is merit in selecting Wednesday as it may deem this to be fair to all states, and not allow results and turnout rates to be consistent throughout Malaysia and not be skewed in certain states," See-To said.

'Ploy to ensure low voter turnout'

The EC's decision to hold the 14th general election midweek has caused an uproar among Malaysians, with many questioning how they would be able to go back to their home states to vote.

Pakatan Harapan, meanwhile, claimed this to be a ploy to ensure low voter turnout during the election.

However, See-To said Harapan, in particular, should not complain about weekday elections.

"Their chairperson and prime minister candidate Dr Mahathir Mohamad's first general election as prime minister was held on Thursday, April 22, 1982.

"His last two general elections as prime minister in 1995 and 1999 were also held on weekdays - Monday, April 25, 1995, and Monday, Nov 29, 1999.

"Really, Mahathir and his gang are simply not qualified to complain about this election polling date falling on a Wednesday," he said.

See-To also noted that the United States, which is "supposedly the most democratic country in the world," also holds its elections on Tuesdays.

Caretaker Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak has also waded into the debate. In a statement, he reminded that this was not the first time the national polls were held on a weekday.

The 1995 elections were held on Monday and Tuesday, while the 1999 elections took place on a Monday.

“The day election takes place is not the main issue as there are a lot of leeways accorded to civil staff or private employees on polling day.

“Don’t be so quick to criticise and spread slander as though the BN government wants a low voter turnout,” he said.

In fact, he said the target voter turnout should be exceed 85 percent, as was the case in the 2013 election.