Sabah General Election (PRU 13)

The Election Commission (EC) here is ready to face the 13th General Election come rain or shine and is only waiting for the Prime Minister to dissolve Parliament, said State EC Director Datuk Md Idrus Ismail. "It's really difficult to predict what the weather would be like especially in October and November but if the dissolution of Parliament is done by the Prime Minister over that period, then we have to do it," he said.

He said this during a media conference held at his office at the Federal Administration Complex here, Thursday, which also announced the retirement of EC member, Datuk Jamdin Buyong, who served since Oct 30, 2002 to Sept 4, 2012. "We therefore need to have a plan if bad weather or flood occurs but I hope the weather would be good so that it would be easier for voters to come and cast their votes," he said. He said preparations in terms of briefing their EC officers and logistics have already been conducted. "We are only waiting for the dissolution of Parliament by the Prime Minister," he said. He also said they would utilise some 24 helicopters during the election period. However, discussions in terms of its costing have not been determined as they have yet to discuss with Sabah Air.

"Perhaps it's still too early to have a discussion but Sabah Air also needs to make preparations since they need to outsource from other countries such as Philippines, Indonesia or local companies for helicopters as they might not have enough.

"For boat services, EC officers have the full responsibility to outsource for boats because there are places such as Kinabatangan, Beluran and islands, among others, where boat services are needed."On how much is needed for the general election, he said, they have so far only received funds for logistic and briefing preparations.He, however, admitted that the amount would be higher than the RM16 million for the previous general election because of the additional manpower and logistics.

Towards this end, he said new voter registration is quite slow compared to the second quarter of this year because many assumed June was the last month of registration, hence the figure accelerated over that period."Many rushed forward to register until the last day of June but those who wish to register can still do so until the end of September since we do not know when the general election will be," he added.

Adapted From: Daily Express