Just yesterday (10th April), the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) finally made the much-awaited announcement on the official polling date for the upcoming general election (GE14), which will be held on Wednesday (9th May 2018).
In light of the fact that GE14 will be on a weekday, many working Malaysians, especially those voting in a different state, were left confused and worried as to how this would affect their leave and their commute back to their home states.
Source: MMO
Now, according to the Malay Mail Online, Bersih 2.0 has issued a statement urging the federal government to make polling day an official public holiday nationwide. An excerpt of their statement reads,
“Not only is the campaign period only the minimum 11 days, but polling day is on a Wednesday, a working day and a school day.”
“Those who have to ‘balik kampung‘ to vote will be at an added disadvantage, especially those that have to return to Sabah or Sarawak from the Peninsular and vice versa.”
“Furthermore, party polling and counting agents and volunteer observers will have to find time off work to contribute to clean and fair elections.”
Source: NST
Although 9th May was just declared a school holiday nationwide, it still remains unclear if it would eventually be declared a public holiday as well.
Meanwhile, deputy home minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed made a statement regarding the nationwide concern about polling day, saying that there is no need to make it a public holiday.
According to Malaysiakini, Nur Jazlan stated that there are already existing laws that require employers to give their employees reasonable time off to go out and vote.
The deputy home minister took to Twitter, also calling out former prime minister and current opposition lead, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, over his criticism of GE14’s polling day. He claimed that this was not the first time that polling day was held on a weekday, as it was done before under Mahathir’s administration.
Source: Twitter
Sharing those sentiments, Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak also said that employers in the government and private sectors would make flexible working arrangements so that employees can go out and vote. According to Free Malaysia Today, he mentioned in a blog post,
“Let’s not be too quick to criticise or make baseless allegations that the BN government wants to lower voter turnout. We are a transparent government and of course we aim to achieve the 85% voter turnout seen in GE13. This is our spirit.”
“So, may the GE14 process run smoothly and may those eligible to vote cast their votes for the future of our country.”
Meanwhile, a petition was just launched yesterday (10th April), asking the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia to declare 9th May a public holiday in light of GE14. The petition currently has over 42,000 signatures, which is about 8,000 signatures away from their goal of 50,000.
Source: Change.org
An excerpt from the petition, which directly addresses the Agong, reads,
“This date (9th May), unfortunately, falls on a Wednesday, which has invoked some concern on the effects it would have on the populace of our nation, some of whom might find themselves in a dilemma to take time off work to cast their votes.”
“This is especially true for those in the private sector and whose polling stations are located very much further away from their workplace and current residence, constituting a need for leaves to be applied that may stretch for more than 1 day. ”
“…In a time where rising costs of living and job insecurities are rife, we fear voters would be discouraged from going out to vote entirely due to this, or would be unable to due to responsibilities to their employers.”
Well, regardless of whether or not it will ultimately be declared a public holiday, let’s do our best to make our way to our respective polling districts when the time comes. After all, every vote counts!
Also read: GE14: Employers Could Face RM5,000 Fine If They Don’t Give Staff Time Off to Vote
