KUALA LUMPUR: Security on polling day for the 13th general election (GE13) throughout the country is under control after all the polling centres were opened at 8am today.
The police have deployed 112,000 personnel throughout the country to ensure that the 13th general election (GE13) runs smoothly.
Although there were attempts by certain groups to create chaos during the 15 days of campaigning for the GE13, including the discovery of minor home-made explosive materials, planting multi-coloured flags beside the roads in the federal capital as an effort to mobilise street demonstrations and minor incidents between the political parties, the overall situation is calm.
Thus, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar advised members of the public to return home immediately after casting the votes and not to join in any gatherings.
“This is to avoid any commotion and ensure that the election process runs smoothly,” he told Bernama.
The police have also directed all the state police chiefs to set up special patrolling units to detect any irresponsible acts to create chaos.
In Lahad Datu, Sabah, the polling process for the Silam parliamentary seat and the state seats of Tungku, Lahad Datu and Kunak went smoothly with security provided by the police and military.
The GE13 saw contests in 222 parliamentary constituencies and 505 state constituencies except for the Sarawak state seats, while 13.2 million Malaysians were eligible to cast their votes.
Deputy Head of the Inspector-General of Police Secretariat (Corporate Communication), ACP Ramli Mohamed Yusoof said police would hold two media conferences today, at noon and 7pm to inform the people on developments during the polling process. – Bernama