The Election Commission today announced that the by-elections for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in Perak and the Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah will be held simultaneously on April 7.

The commission has fixed March 29 for nominations and campaigning would last 9 days.

abdul aziz yusof spr by election bukit gantang selambau 120209 06 Nominations come a day after the Umno general assembly which will be held from March 24 to 28.

This will be the first by-election for Najib Abdul Razak in his capacity as prime minister should the power transition between him and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi take place as promised next month.

Speaking after chairing a meeting in the EC headquarters in Putrajaya this morning, its chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said it would be better to hold the by-elections simultaneously to avoid a long campaign period for the two seats.

"If we fix the by-elections on different dates, other issues will arise and this could threaten public security," he said.

bukit selambau state seat kedah 110209 Abdul Aziz denied that the by-election dates were fixed after taking the Umno general assembly into consideration, saying: "It has nothing to do with the Umno polls."

" Everyone is comfortable with this decision because we feel the date would be suitable for the by-elections."

Even though polling falls on a working Tuesday, the EC chairperson rejected suggestions that it would negatively impact voter turn-out.

"If they feel responsible to vote, then they can always balik kampung and do their duty," said Abdul Aziz, adding that the schools involved in the by-elections will also be closed.

"But I will remain positive that the turn-out would be more than 90 percent. The higher we aim, the better," he said.

The by-elections were called after PAS parliamentarian for Bukit Gantang Roslan Shaharum died of heart attack and Bukit Selambau assemblyperson V Arumugam from PKR resigned last Monday.

The Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau seats have 55,562 and 35,140 voters respectively.

Date influenced by political turmoil in Perak

Met at the sidelines of the press conference, Abdul Aziz revealed that the political crisis in Perak was one of the reasons the polling date for the by-elections was fixed in April.

bukit gantang parliamentary seat 090209 He said by then, the situation in the state would have calmed down.

The political situation in Perak has been tense after the Pakatan Rakyat-led government fell into the hands of Barisan Nasional after three of its assemblypersons became 'BN friendly' independents and an earlier defector returned to Umno.

Abdul Aziz also did not rule out security being tightened in Bukit Gantang throughout the duration of the by-election, saying it was up to the Home Ministry to make the necessary arrangements.

Quizzed over the validity of Arumugam’s resignation, Abdul Aziz said the EC was satisfied with the documents supporting his decision to quit.

"We are satisfied because the documents are genuine and we have also held discussions with legal advisers and the (Kedah) menteri besar. There is nothing to doubt over his resignation," he said.

"Besides, a notice pertaining to the seat's vacancy received by the state assembly Speaker is also legitimate," he added.

He said this in response to a newspaper report stating that Arumugam was ordered to meet the Kedah sultan who was worried the former state representative signed the resignation letter under duress.

The EC also revealed that by-election budgets of RM600,000 and RM400,000 have been allocated for Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau respectively.

Taiping City Hall and Dewan Sekolah Menengah Teknik 1 in Sungai Petani have been picked for Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau respectively for nomination and vote counting.

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