It's a TUESDAY - the date EC fixed for both by-elections..

Why did the SPR fix the By-Elections on a Tuesday, 7th April 2008? Do they not want voters in the constituency who work out-station to return to vote in this polls?

Now workers will have to take leave to go back home to vote...or even to go off to vote, and during a financial crisis, many just do not want to get into the bad books of their employer - they would not want to risk being retrenched...or terminated.

There will be school holidays on 14th March - 22nd March 2009, and would it not have been better to fix one of the Saturdays during the school holidays for the by-elections?

There is really no logic for fixing the elections on a working day ...and on Tuesday. And being a by-elections, there will be a lot of 'busy-bodies' also there - in short, it will be difficult to get bus/train tickets to and fro. A Monday would have been better...Now, many will have to take 2 (or maybe 3) days annual leave just to get back to cast their votes.

Why could the EC just extend the campaign period - and fix the coming Saturday as the election date. The nomination date is interestingly a Sunday - it could have been any day - but the important date when constituents cast their vote should have been a Saturday/Sunday for Perak and the week-end for Kedah.

The Election Commission today announced that the by-elections for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in Perak and the Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah will be held simultaneously on April 7.

The commission has fixed March 29 for nominations and campaigning would last 9 days.

Nominations come a day after the Umno general assembly which will be held from March 24 to 28. - Malaysiakini, 13/2/2009, Simultaneous by-elections on April 7

Interestingly, the nomination day is just after the end of the UMNO general assembly. By that time, Mohd Najib Razak will be the new UMNO President...(nothing more...for the Prime Ministership cannot be transferred like a baton in a relay...)

It is alright for the Election Commission to take that fact into account - and in fact, it is good that it is done for all other political parties..

BUT then...

Similarly, PKR chief strategist Saifuddin Nasution criticised the EC for factoring in the Umno polls when the commission had called for by-elections which clashed with PAS' annual assemblies last year (Permatang Pauh) and in 2004 (Kuala Berang).

"It is just too good to be mere coincidence for the EC to fix a date after Umno elections," said Saifuddin, adding that Umno would be in disarray in the run up to the polls because of the heated contest.- Malaysiakini, 13/2/2009, Pakatan cries foul over polls date