Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah (centre) at the announcement of the nomination and 14th general election dates at EC’s headquarters today. – Bernama photo
KUCHING: The guessing game is finally over with the Election Commission (EC) announcing the 14th General Election (GE14) to be held on May 9, 2018.
EC chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah, who made the announcement, said nomination day will be held on April 28 while early voting will be on May 5.
This will give political parties a campaign period of 11 days.
Parliament was dissolved last Saturday (April 7) to pave way for the election.
This time around, a total of 222 parliamentary and 505 state seats are at stake to secure the mandate to administer the country which has around 31.7 million people.
BN won the last general election by taking 133 seats out of the 222 contested.
At the time of the parliament’s dissolution BN held 132 seats, DAP, 36; PKR, 28; PAS, 13; Parti Amanah Negara, seven; Parti Warisan Sabah, two; Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), one each; and Independents, two.