The election signs to look out for comments Fauziah Ismail

IT'S NEAR: Presence of incumbents and party flags in constituencies revealing

IN Penang last week, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin hinted that the 13th General Election could be called in a matter of days or weeks
.
If the dates that had earlier gone viral on Facebook are to be believed, then the much-awaited announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the dissolution of Parliament may come at the end of next week.

The dissolution of Parliament is said to be on Feb 22, with nomination day to fall on March 16 and polling day on March 30.

Going by these dates, the gap between the date of dissolution and nomination day will be one of the longest at 23 days. The only other time the gap was this long was during the 1969 elections.

The government has up to 60 days from the date of dissolution of Parliament to hold the election but if these dates were anything to go by, it will be over in slightly over a month. The longest had been 53 days in 1959 while the shortest was 14 days in 1986.

As in past general elections, you'll know that the date is near when you see party flags from both sides of the divide -- already flying even before the announcement on the dissolution of Parliament.

Under the Election Commission's (EC) rules and regulations, campaigning can only start once the nomination procedures are over. The authorities can take the flags down and take action against the parties concerned.
You will also find some incumbents suddenly becoming visible in their constituencies. It would not surprise me one bit if they stay on in their constituencies beyond the Chinese New Year holidays. These are the same members of parliament and state assemblymen who would return to their constituents only when there are big high-profile events involving the royalty, the prime minister or his deputy. Most of the time, they will leave their representatives to deal with the constituents.

They know that they are not allowed any form of campaigning before nomination day but the period before that would also be crucial nonetheless.

Let's take the 2008 general election as an example.

It was certainly gigantic in terms of theatrics before and after nomination day. It could easily fill the slot of TV3's Cerekarama on Saturday nights for weeks on end.

I remembered my colleagues staking out the Prime Minister's Office Complex in Putrajaya after the then prime minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the dissolution of Parliament.
They saw the then menteri besar of Perlis going in and out of the complex over the span of a few days and looking distraught while talking to his supporters. The selection of Perlis candidates for the elections back then was very problematic. When he finally made an announcement, it was amended three times in the span of 13 hours.

There were also the desperate bids by those dropped to get back into the list. Dissatisfaction among those dropped had also led to their supporters closing operations' rooms and holding demonstrations and others.
We saw a non-governmental organisation, Women's Candidacy Initiative, putting up a campaign revolving around a fictional character of "Mak Bedah", as a symbol of female representation in Parliament. Well, a gimmick like that got them into the newspapers and television coverage but not necessarily into the august house.

We also had an 89-year-old grandmother who stood as an independent candidate in Terengganu. She had been trying to get into the system (for reasons only known to her) for four terms and finally managed to get herself on the ballot papers then.

This will be my seventh general election. I became eligible to register as a voter in 1983. The first time I cast my vote was in the 1986 general election. I am pretty sure that the 13th general election will not be short of drama.

By the way, a new Undilah video was uploaded to YouTube last October. The EC featured home grown hip-hop talent, One Nation Emcees, singing the song.

The song, which has been described as the "Mother of All Election" songs, was first made popular by multilingual broadcaster and famous personality, the late Datuk Zainal Alam, for the 1955 general election. He sang the song in English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil.

It is a simple jingle on how to vote. Give both versions a listen. You may have your personal preference, as you may have of the party and candidate of choice this coming general election.


Read more: The election signs to look out for - Columnist - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/the-election-signs-to-look-out-for-1.216618#ixzz2KeUHSiUi