GE15: Campaign for Padang Serai, Tioman seats ends tonight

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 (Bernama) -- The 15th General Election (GE15) campaign for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat and the Tioman state seat, which started last Nov 24, will end at 11.59 pm today.

After that, all candidates contesting for the seats will be prohibited from campaigning or canvassing for votes as it is polling day.

According to the official website of the Election Commission (SPR), subsection 26(1) of the Election Offences Act 1954 prohibits anyone from holding, convening or organising any form of meeting, rally,  show, entertainment or giving public speeches. 

The law also prohibits anyone from furnishing or supplying any loudspeakers for political purposes and opening or establishing or maintaining an office or a booth within the constituency in which a candidate seeks election for any purpose connected with an election on polling day.

Any person who contravenes any of the provisions shall be liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or both.

Polling for GE15 for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat and the Tioman state seat was postponed following the death of a candidate vying for the seats, namely M. Karupaiya of Pakatan Harapan (PH) for Padang Serai and Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Md. Yunus Ramli for Tioman.

Karupaiya, 69, died on Nov 16, believed to be due to a heart attack and health complications, while Md Yunus, 61, died on the polling day for GE15 on Nov 19.

The contest for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat will see a six-cornered fight among Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Dr Mohamad Sofee Razak, Datuk C. Sivaraajh (Barisan Nasional), Datuk Azman Nasrudin (Perikatan Nasional) and Hamzah Abd Rahman (Pejuang).

The other two contenders are Mohd Bakhri Hashim, representing Warisan, and independent candidate Sreanandha Rao.

However, last Dec 2, BN agreed to give way to PH for the parliamentary seat.

Prior to that, Warisan announced that it would not take part in the election, but the party logo would still appear on the ballot paper, as it had already been registered as one of the competing parties.

 Meanwhile, the Tioman state seat will witness a five-cornered fight that included PN candidate Nor Idayu Hashim, Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Hussain (BN), Osman A Bakar (Pejuang), Sulaiman Bakar (Independent). 

The other candidate, Mohd Fadzli Mohd Ramly, of PH, is making way for the BN candidate to increase the latter’s chances of winning, but his (Mohd Fadzli) name will still be on the ballot papers.

According to the EC, the status of the candidates cannot be changed after their nominations were accepted.

The Electoral Roll for the Padang Serai seat contains 133,867 electors voters, while for Tioman, there are  28,465 registered electors.

-- BERNAMA