EC: Election may be postponed in areas affected by intrusion

4

PUTRAJAYA: The upcoming 13th general election can be postponed in areas in Sabah affected by the intrusion of gunmen from Sulu, should an emergency be declared in the said areas, according to Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

He said there were legal provisions to allow certain areas to postpone elections.

“According to the law, the EC will take this into consideration before making a decision on elections in areas where emergency has been declared,” he told reporters here yesterday.

Earlier, he had met with leaders from 30 political parties to clarify new matters to be implemented in the coming general election.

Abdul Aziz said the EC would review details in the emergency order, should it be issued, which will then be brought to a special meeting before a final decision was made.

“Right now only Lahad Datu and Sempora are affected and we are confident this will be resolved soon. The EC is ready to hold elections at any time,” he said.

In another development, Abdul Aziz said 4,669 applications for postal voting abroad were received until this morning, of which 3,995 were eligible while 674 applications were rejected.

“Most of the applications were rejected because they had not registered as voters and that is the main requirement for the postal voting facility,” he said. — Bernama