KUALA LUMPUR The two-week campaign for Malaysia's 15th General Election officially kicks off on Saturday in a multi-cornered battle that is likely to result in no clear winner after the Nov 19 vote.
Most contenders have had to rush to prepare for the polls that were not due until September 2023 but were controversially called when caretaker Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved Parliament on Oct 10, despite warnings of deadly year-end floods by mid-November.
The Meteorological Department said on Thursday that the northeast monsoon which killed 54 in 2021 and caused RM6 billion (S$1.8 billion) in losses - is now expected to hit the country earlier, from Nov 7, and will last till March. This raises the potential risk of the 21 million-strong electorate having to brave flood waters to vote.
The fragmented political landscape, with three main coalitions and dozens of independent blocs vying for power, is likely to see close to a thousand nominations submitted on Saturday for the 222 parliamentary seats, and hundreds more for the only three - out of 13 state assemblies that have chosen -to hold concurrent polls despite the impending deluge. The states of Perlis, Perak and Pahang were ruled by Umno.
All candidates will have to submit their papers between 9am and 10am at various centres in all 222 federal wards, with confirmation of names that will appear on the ballot papers expected before noon.
Denne historien er fra November 05, 2022-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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Denne historien er fra November 05, 2022-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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CALLIGRAPHY IS BIG WITH ARTIST
The boulders hiding in the alcove of Tong Yang-tze's (right) Taipei apartment testify to this Taiwanese calligrapher's daunting perfectionism. They are paper - remnants of discarded artworks, crumpled together like used tissues and soaked into inky wads of pulp. Hundreds of old drafts of writing, including many of her efforts to draw Chinese poetry at a monumental scale, have been recycled into these rocks over the years, most recently as she worked on her commission for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which debuted on Nov 21.
Mattel sued over Wicked dolls with porn website link
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Actress Kristal Tin reveals lung cancer diagnosis
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South Korean entertainment schedules up in the air
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Host Dasmond Koh surprised by martial law edict while in Seoul for work
Upheaval in Seoul, South Korea
Squid Game returns to end 2024 with a bang
In this monthly column, The Straits Times' streaming picks for December include the long-awaited second season of the survivalist hit Squid Game (2021 to present) and its non-lethal equivalent.
Flow speaks Volumes, The Room Next Door a thin melodrama
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Funeral rites come alive in The Last Dance
The Hong Kong drama offers fascinating glimpses into the city's funeral traditions
Tolkien and anime work well together, says Japanese director
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