What it takes to contest in the upcoming general election

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — The waiting game for the election date will be over soon, with the current government calling for the Dewan Rakyat to be dissolved anytime before 28 April 2013. 

Moreover, the Dewan Rakyat's mandate expires on the same date. 

Politicians on both sides of the divide will contest 222 Parliamentary seats and 505 state-assembly seats throughout the nation, except in Sarawak. 

However, has anyone wondered what it takes to contest in the elections, especially the 13th General Election (GE13), that will feature many new rules to ensure greater transparency? 

To educate the society and media, the Election Commission (EC) conducted a briefing on GE13 at Bernama on Jan 17. 

During the briefing, the EC's Deputy Chairman Datuk Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar touched upon the prerequisites for aspiring candidates and the new rules. 

Want to contest?  

Among the requirements for contesting in the elections, first and foremost, the candidates must be Malaysian citizens of 21 years and above. Undischarged bankrupts and those convicted by the courts for offences within the last five years are barred from contesting. Civil servants and those considered mentally unfit are also barred from contesting. 

Wan Ahmad added that those who had contested previously and were yet to submit their election-expense returns were also blacklisted. 

"To date, 50 of the candidates in the 2008 election have yet to submit their financial statement. They should know better of their obligations...," he lamented.

Nomination

Anyone who fulfills the above conditions can obtain nomination forms and statutory declaration forms, and prepare the required deposits.

The completed forms, deposits and the statuary declaration forms should be handed over at the nomination centres that are open between 9 am and 10 am on the nomination day.

The returning officer will go through the nomination papers and then declare the names of those who qualify to contest.

For the first time, GE13 will be doing away with the objection period, in line with the amendments to regulation 9 of the Elections (Conduct of Elections) 1981, that came into effect on 27 April 2012.

The nomination papers can be handed over by either the candidate himself/herself, or the proposer, or the seconder.

The statutory declaration has to be stamped at the stamp-duty office.

Candidates vying for parliamentary seats are required to make the statutory declaration on Form 5, and those vying for state seats should use form 5A.

The deposit

Candidates are also required to pay a deposit to contest and a deposit to campaign.

The deposit to contest a Parliament seat is set at RM10,000, while it is RM 5,000 for a state seat, payable in cash or by bank draft on the nomination day.

The payments can be made to EC beforehand, with the candidate only needing to attach the payment receipt when submitting the nomination forms.

As for the campaign, the candidates have to pay a deposit of RM5,000 for Parliamentary seats and RM3,000 for state seats.

The candidates also have to liaise with the local authorities in putting up posters, banners etc.

A police permit is required for campaign speeches in open spaces.

"I would like to point out here that the money will be used to clean up the posters and others after the election, in the event that the candidate fails to do so...," Wan Ahmad said, explaining the purpose of the deposit.

Campaign material

He also pointed out that in certain constituencies, political parties that were not contesting in the area were also putting up their posters and banners in a show of support for their allies.

This is a clear violation of the election laws, and the EC would act against this, Wan Ahmad said.

Nonetheless, often, the EC's employees end up at the receiving end.

"There was an incident where our employees were surrounded by the supporters of a party and held up to 4 am The EC had to call the police to rescue them," he explained.

Changes in polling-centre arrangement

To ensure greater transparency in conducting GE13, the EC has made some changes in positioning Polling Booth Observers to enable the candidate's representatives to keep a close watch on the voting process.

They will be placed where they can see the voters coming in and walking towards the first, second and third polling clerks.

In this position, representatives can view voters standing in front of the second polling clerk, where their fingers are inked before the voter moves towards the ballot box and casts his/her vote.

Wan Ahmad hopes that the new measures introduced will fulfill the aspirations of the political parties to see the free and fair election they have been clamouring for.

Nothing to be concerned about

Wan Ahmad pointed out that Malaysia's electoral system is an efficient and reliable one, and has been adopted by many nations, such as Mali, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Timur Leste and Cambodia.

"Under our electoral system, voters vote during the day and by the same night, they have results. In certain neighbouring countries, it takes weeks and at times, months to see the results," he explained.

The fast election process makes it difficult to manipulate. During GE13, the first results are expected to be out as early as 7 pm. SPR has set up its own computer applications, which will further streamline the electoral process. — Bernama