PUTRAJAYA: While GE15 will see 945 candidates vying for 222 parliamentary seats, 434 candidates will also be contesting for the 117 state seats in Perak, Perlis, Pahang and the lone state constituency of Bugaya in Sabah, according to the Election Commission (EC).
Pakatan Harapan has the most candidates with 322 while Barisan Nasional is fielding 295.
Perikatan Nasional is also throwing its hat in the ring with 265 candidates, while Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) – which is contesting under the Pejuang logo – has 161 candidates, Parti Warisan (70) and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (31).
There is a total of 132 Independents for both parliamentary and state seats.
Earlier, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh (pic) said Batu in the Federal Territory has the most candidates, with a 10-way fight for the parliamentary seat.
“For state seats, Chenderiang in Perak and Bugaya in Sabah have the highest number of candidates, with seven each,” he told reporters at Menara SPR here yesterday.
Four parliamentary candidates as well as two others for state seats had their nomination papers rejected, he said, without providing the reasons.
“No seat was won uncontested,” Abdul Ghani added.
He said the 14-day campaign period had officially begun with the announcement of candidates made by the returning officers and would run until 11.59pm on Nov 18.
