Malaysia will hold its 13 th general election on May 5, Chairman
of the Malaysian Election Commission Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof
announced on April 9.
In the commission’s live-broadcast announcement, Abdul Aziz said all
total of 222 parliamentary seats and 505 State seats will be elected
during the day.
Earlier, on April 3, Malaysian Prime Minister
Najib Razak had declared to dissolve the parliament, paving the way for
the general election, which is considered one of the fiercest races
between the ruling coalition National Front (BN) and the People’s
Alliance (PR).
Najib’s National Front suffered its worst ever
showing in history by winning only 140 of the 222 seats in the
parliament – less than two-thirds of the legislative majority, and lost
five out of 13 State seats to opposition People’s Alliance in the 2008
elections.
The National Front has ruled the country since its independence 56 years ago.-VNA