The Election Commission (SPR) will hold a special meeting at 10 am today to decide the important dates for the 15th General Election (GE15).
The meeting, to be chaired by EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh, will be held at Menara SPR.
Based on the invitation issued to media organizations, the EC is scheduled to announce the date for the issuing of the election writ, nomination day, early voting day, polling day and the electoral roll to be used for GE15 at noon.
The special meeting will be held following the dissolution of the 14th Parliament as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob last Oct 10 after getting the consent of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
The commission is also scheduled to announce the important dates for the N66 Bugaya by-election in Semporna, Sabah, which is expected to be held simultaneously with GE15.
The Bugaya seat fell vacant following the death of its incumbent Manis Muka Mohd Darah on Nov 17, 2020, but the by-election was postponed due to the proclamation of emergency to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The EC was officially notified about the vacancy of the Bugaya state seat last Oct 12.
Last Oct 7, Al-Sultan Abdullah consented to the revocation of six ordinances and proclamations of emergency promulgated in 2020 that prevented by-elections from being held in Batu Sapi, Gerik, and Bugaya amid the COVID-19 pandemic, effective last Oct 6.
Following the dissolution of Parliament, Ismail Sabri had recommended that states, except Sabah, Sarawak, Melaka, and Johor, which have not yet reached maturity, dissolve their respective assemblies to enable state and parliamentary elections to be held at the same time.
Sabah, Melaka, Sarawak, and Johor held their state elections on September 2020, November 2021, December 2021, and March 2022 respectively.
This general election is going to be different from those held previously as several other states are also not holding their state polls together with the parliamentary elections by not dissolving their state assemblies yet.
They are Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah, which are under PAS’ administration, and the Pakatan Harapan states, comprising Selangor, Penang, and Negeri Sembilan.
Only Perak, Pahang, and Perlis have dissolved their state assemblies to allow the state elections to be held simultaneously with GE15.
Sources: BERNAMA