KOTA KINABALU, March 12 – Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof (Pic)said he is confident that the upcoming 13th general election (13th GE) can be held simultaneously nationwide, including in Lahad Datu in Sabah, which was invaded by the Sulu terrorists recently.
He said the reason being that the situation in Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu, was improving and believed would be back to normal soon. Abdul Aziz said there would be two polling centres in the area declared as the Red Zone following the intrusion by the Sulu terrorists last February, namely at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Tanjung Labian and SK Tunku.
The Red Zone encompasses areas in the Tunku state constituency, currently represented by Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Datuk Mohd Suhaili Said. Tunku is among the three state seats in the Silam parliamentary constituency. The other two are Lahad Datu and Kunak.
“I am confident that with the presence of our security forces there, the situation will return to normal and it is because of that I believe we can hold the general election simultaneously nationwide,” he told reporters after holding a briefing on election preparations for election officers and election campaign enforcement teams, here today.
When asked whether the Electoral Roll which was gazetted on Feb 22 this year would be applicable if Parliament was to be dissolved at the end of the month, Abdul Aziz said it would be used for the 13th GE. However, he said the process of updating the roll would continue until the dissolution of Parliament.
Abdul Aziz said there were 982,644 registered voters in Sabah, while Labuan had 24,497 registered voters. He said the EC had allocated RM50 million for the general election in Sabah and would involve 17,615 election workers.
The workers would include the returning officers, comprising 26 people, including for Labuan, and 124 assistant returning officers, three of them for Labuan. There are 26 parliamentary seats, including Labuan, in Sabah, and 60 state seats.
On the use of helicopters for the election, especially in the remotes areas, Abdul Aziz said helicopters would be used at 86 polling centres and also to send and fetch EC staff from their work places. As for boat service, he said it would be required at 55 polling centres. Abdul Aziz advised political parties contesting in the coming general election to abide by regulations and not to raise sensitive issues, including on the intrusion in Sabah.
“We do not want any party to raise issues which can hurt the feelings of other people or races,” he added. He expressed confidence that the security team was capable of maintaining peace and public order during the election campaign and on polling.
He also advised voters in Sabah, especially in Lahad Datu, to exercise their rights by going out to vote in the coming general election. Earlier in his speech, Abdul Aziz advised election workers to carry out their duties fairly and without fear or favour. He hoped this coming general election would be the cleanest in the country’s election history.
BERNAMA
