SHAH ALAM, July 14 — Caretaker Selangor menteri besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has described the polling day of August 12 set for the upcoming six state elections as appropriate and reasonable.
Apart from that, he said the campaign period of 14 days beginning July 29 was also sufficient for all campaigning parties and potential candidates to introduce themselves.
“In these times when social media is becoming more and more popular, I believe it gives sufficient time to all parties to explain their policies and persuade voters.
“With the time period announced, all parties would be prepared to face the elections and it will also be held on Saturday, which is a holiday for all the states involved,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
The Election Commission (EC) today announced that the state elections in Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan would be held simultaneously, with August 12 set as polling day.
July 29 has been set for the nomination of candidates, while early voting will take place on August 8.
Amirudin said if the campaign period given was too short, it would deprive some groups of conducting effective campaigns.
“After having gone through several elections in the past, especially the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018 and GE15 in 2022, this two-week (campaign) period is quite appropriate, with significant use of social media, especially on those two occasions.
“I believe that the period is more than enough for political parties or campaigning individuals to convey their policies and offers,” he said.
With regard to preparations for the polls in Selangor, Amirudin, who is also the state Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman said he was confident the party would retain its dominance, and hoped that the people would accept the unity government formula — as established at the federal level — for the sake of stability and prosperity.
“God willing, I believe with all the experience that we have, the support of the prime minister, who is not only campaigning as (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, but as the 10th Prime Minister, I am confident that he will be able to inject enthusiasm and have a good impact on the election results for the unity (government) coalition later,” he said.
The Selangor state assembly was officially dissolved on June 23 to pave the way for the state election.
During GE14, PH dominated Selangor when it won 51 out of 56 state assembly seats, followed by BN with four and PAS with one.
However, the composition of the state assembly before the dissolution sees PH holding 40 seats (PKR-19, DAP-15, Amanah-six), BN (five), Bersatu (four), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) (two), while PAS, Pejuang, and Warisan have one each, along with one Independent representative.
Another seat in Batang Kali, however, was declared vacant after the elected representative failed to attend the assembly sitting for over six months.
Selangor is also the state with the largest number of voters aged 18 to 20 at 274,194, and the one with the largest group of voters aged 90 and above at 8,638. — Bernama
