GE15: Drop-out candidates can still be winners – EC

PADANG SERAI - Candidates who have publicly withdrawn from contesting in the Padang Serai Parliament and Tioman State Assembly 15th General Election (GE15) can still be announced as the winner if they obtain a majority of votes.

Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said this was because candidates had been confirmed to contest during the nomination process.

He said the time frame had been given until 10am on the nomination day on Nov 24, and all confirmed nominations were eligible to compete.

"Candidates can withdraw during the nomination, but after 10 am it is not possible, meaning even if you withdrew (after it) they had been confirmed to be contesting and were eligible to be announced as a winner if they won the majority of votes," he said.

Ghani said that to reporters when he was inspecting the polling process at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Badlishah Kulim Polling Centre on Wednesday.

Padang Serai BN Parliament candidate Datuk C Sivaraj and Parti Warisan candidate Mohd Bakhri Hashim announced their withdrawal from the election to give way for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Dr Mohamad Sofee Razak.

In Tioman, PH candidate Mohd Fadzli Mohd Ramly had announced he would give way for the BN candidate Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Hussain as a sign of respect for the unity government formed between both parties.

Voting in both areas takes place today, following the deaths of the Padang Serai PH Parliament candidate on Nov 16 and Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate on Nov 19.

Meanwhile, Ghani also requested the cooperation of employers to cooperate in allowing their employees to get a time off to vote.

"We understand that employees had their own time or schedule, so we hope employers could give them the flexibility to go out and carry out their responsibilities at the designated time," he said.

He said as of 9am, nine per cent of the population had voted and the numbers were expected to continue to increase.

He explained that the results of the Padang Serai Parliament and Tioman State Assembly GE15 were expected to be announced latest by 10pm.