GE15: Bid to "return people's mandate" must come with suitable polling date
SHAH ALAM - By lunch hour today, you will probably know the date for the 15th General Election and soon enough, the candidates who will contest.
After what feels like an eternity of political instability, this process of “returning the people’s mandate” - as dubbed by Umno men, may finally provide some sense of assurance to Malaysians.
Sources say that the nomination day will most likely fall on Oct 29 while polling day to be between Nov 12 to 14.
Questions of whether the Prime Minister would propose the vital date on a weekday as to what his predecessor had done back in 2018 was said to be out of the question.
A source said many have advised against this since it was a schooling day, while another said the government must cushion the hate as people were already up in arms about #UndiBanjir.
Political analyst Amir Fareed Rahim said it should be a weekend, preferably a Saturday so states that start their working week on Sunday would not be affected.
He stated that polling day on a weekend will give ample opportunity for voters to exercise their civic duty hence improving voter turnout which will be crucial in marginal seats.
Ensuring voter turnout remains vital for GE15 after what the nation saw a mere 65 to 60 per cent voter turnout for Melaka (November 2021), Sarawak (December 2021) and Johor (March 2022) state elections.
Is it really the people’s mandate when the mandate holds barely half of the people to begin with?
Meanwhile, Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research’s Dr Azmi Hassan said the predicted dates of Nov 12 to 14 was suitable and strategic as the official monsoon season starts on Nov 15.
This, he said, would avoid any stigma that the election were to be held during the monsoon season and void risks of flooding.
“It’s not set in black and white that it be raining heavily of course on Nov 15 but just to be on the safe side and avoid the stigma of having Election Day during the monsoon season, I think that’s why the dates crop up in this case,” he told Sinar Daily.
The word that Oct 29 would be the nomination day would also be the best case scenario, according to Azmi.
He said this would leave about two weeks of campaigning, which he considers “just enough” and “more than suitable”.
Azmi said the voters had been exposed to the campaign since a few months back when political parties continued to push the notion of a snap election since post-Johor polls.
Political fatigue has definitely been on everyone’s mind and quick exposure to political parties prior to casting your vote would most likely be best.
The Election Commission is finalising the dates as we speak but in situations like this, it makes you wonder if having a permanent polling day like the Americans - statutorily set by the Federal Government as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November”, would actually be easier for all of us?
