PETALING JAYA: Barisan Nasional (BN) strategist Eric See-To today said it is only fair to hold the 14th general election on a Wednesday due to the different weekends observed by the various states.
The Election Commission announced today that nominations would be held on Saturday, April 28, and polling on Wednesday, May 9.
“The states of Terengganu, Kedah and Kelantan have always had their weekends on Friday and Saturday,” See-To, deputy director of BN’s strategic communications unit, said in a post on Facebook.
“To have a polling date set on Sunday would be unfair to these states.”
Likewise, he said, if the election was set on a Friday, it would be unfair to voters in states where Friday was a working day.
“Similarly, if an election was to be set on a Saturday, it would be a half-day for some, and a full rest day for others,” he said.
Stressing that he does not speak for the Election Commission, See-To said he could see the merit in selecting Wednesday as the polling day as it was not only fair to all states but would allow turnout rates for voters to be consistent throughout Malaysia.
He also said that Pakatan Harapan (PH) should be the last to complain about the polling day falling on a weekday in view of its prime ministerial candidate’s history.
The first general election for Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he was the prime minister, was on Thursday, April 22, 1982, and his last two were also held on weekdays — Monday, April 25, 1995 and Monday, Nov 29, 1999.
See-To then drew a parallel to the United States of America, which held its presidential elections in 2016.
“The USA, which is supposedly the most democratic country in the world, also held its elections on a Tuesday, Nov 8, 2016.”
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