Published: Sunday March 29, 2009 MYT 4:51:00 PM
Tri-elections: Bkt Selambau sets new record
By DHARMENDER SINGH
PUTRAJAYA: The Bukit Selambau state by-election set a record Sunday with 15 candidates contesting.
Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said this was the first time in Malaysian election history that there has been a double-digit number of candidates for a seat; the highest number of contenders for a seat until now had been eight.
Sabah has had eight-cornered fights for state seats in the last several general elections. During the 2008 general election, there were eight contenders each for the Tanjong Kapor and Sukau seats.
Abdul Aziz said the high number of candidates would not pose problems for the Commission in ensuring a smooth election, adding that his staff were prepared to handle the task.
On the Commission’s decision to limit party flags from the Opposition alliance to only the party contesting the seat, he said it was acting according to the rules that did not allow parties not contesting in a general election or by-election to put up their flags during the campaign period.
“The reason Umno and MCA can put up their flags in Bukit Selambau where a MIC candidate is standing is because Barisan Nasional is a registered entity and the two are its component parties.
“However Pakatan Rakyat is not registered and therefore we cannot accept its partners as components, so we had to disallow any Opposition party -- apart from PKR -- from putting up flags,” he said Sunday.
He said the Commission was not at fault in this case as the Opposition had already collected the necessary forms to register the Pakatan coalition some time ago but never submitted them.
Abdul Aziz said the Commission was aware that all Opposition parties had put up their flags even before the nomimations Sunday but had not taken any action as it was not known who would officially contest until after the nominations.
“The Opposition leaders are aware of the rules and I hope they will take down the flags on their own; if they fail to act we will have to instruct the local council to do so,” he said.
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