The Election Commission (EC) of Malaysia has announced a plan to review a recent proposal seeking amendments to made to the country’s electoral constitution in a bid to allow for longer nomination window for political candidates, and an online system that takes recent changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic, into consideration.
Chairman of the commission, Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun, while speaking to the press ahead of the country’s upcoming by-elections scheduled for July 4 in Chini, revealed that the commission was exploring available options with regards to a recent proposal asking for an extension of political candidates’ nomination form submission window, which is currently set at one day only.
Explaining the current structure and the procedures required to change it, Datuk said: “We want to do that, but the problem is that the current legal framework for nomination is only one day and one hour from 9 am to 10 am, then the announcement is expected at 11 am.” Explaining further, he added that “the nomination cannot be carried out via online because under the existing legal framework the candidate or proposer or seconder must bring a hard copy of the nomination form.”
Datuk, however, revealed that while the current legal structure prescribes how elections are run in Malaysia, the commission was committed to “review the proposal” and “amend laws and regulations.”
The proposal to extend the nomination day and timeframe of submission had been made to the commission by various political parties following the coronavirus pandemic which has changed the social structure of the country as a result of the need to maintain social distancing.
Alternate Route for Malaysia
Suggesting an alternative solution pending full amendment of electoral laws in Malaysia, Datuk said that in several by-elections before, the commission had allowed candidates to pick up forms in advance to make the process easier.
“We encourage candidates to go to the state election office to fill out the forms and pay the deposit in advance and check the forms to ensure everything is correct. So, on nomination day it would be just for formality, the candidate would just come and submit the form to the returning officer for checking and the candidate would then be declared eligible for the contest,” he said.
