Seven is enough

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State BN Youth leader says PBB is ready for any online tactics the opposition might unleash

KUCHING: State Barisan Nasional (BN) Youth chief Datuk Fadillah Yusof said the Election Commission (EC) should consider a seven-day campaigning period for the coming state election.

He said the shorter campaigning period was to enable the election to run smoothly.

“The campaign for the coming state election should not be too long to prevent unhealthy political practices, so it is only ideal that the period (campaign) be only seven days,” Fadillah told reporters here yesterday.

The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Youth chief said this when approached by reporters after attending a meeting between EC and state BN component parties at Hilton Hotel.

Present were representatives from all BN component parties – PBB, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP).

In the 2006 state election, 12 days were given for political parties to campaign with no untoward incident.

However, there is a fear that the attitude and incidents created by the opposition in the Sibu by-election in May last year might be repeated in the coming state election.

Fadillah, who is Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, said PBB was prepared for any tactic the opposition might use in the cyber world. Meanwhile, EC chairman Tan Sri Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Yusof said the issue on the campaign period was not discussed  in the almost three-and-a-half hour meeting.

He said among others it discussed how to fill the nomination papers correctly, and exchange views on how to improve the election procedure.

Abdul Aziz said the commission was prepared to listen to constructive suggestions from any political party for the election to be implemented smoothly and fairly.