Rompin by-election: EC satisfied with nomination day preparations

The Election Commission (EC) is satisfied with the preparations for the Rompin Parliamentary by-election nomination day, scheduled to be held at the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Silver Jubilee Hall here, tomorrow.

Its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said it was providing three tents in the area outside the hall, namely one each for Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS, while the other one was in case there was an independent candidate.

The tents are installed on the right and left side of the hall, within a few hundred yards of each other, to avoid conflicts between supporters of contesting parties, he told Bernama when contacted here today.

"We expect all contesting parties to bring along 2,000 to 3,000 supporters on nomination day. We hope they will follow the EC ruling that only 100 representatives of each candidate are allowed to enter the nomination hall," he said.

Abdul Aziz also reminded party supporters and candidates not to use loudspeakers, besides supporters having to wait at a distance of 50-metres from the nomination centre.

"Those who break the rules can be punished with imprisonment of maximum one year or a maximum fine of RM3,000 or both under Section 24A of the Election Offences Act 1954," he said.

Abdul Aziz also advised supporters of political parties present tomorrow, to refrain from any activities that may cause provocation to other parties and to comply with the rules set by the EC and the police.

The by-election is being held following the death of the Barisan Nasional (BN) MP Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis in a helicopter crash in Semenyih on April 4th.

In the 13th General Election in 2013, he retained the seat he had held for six terms after beating former Wanita PAS chief Nuridah Mohd Salleh with a majority of 15,114 votes.

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The Rompin by-election will be the ninth by-election after the general election on May 5, 2013.

The eight by-elections held thus far were for the Kuala Besut state seat in Terengganu (July 24, 2013); Sungai Limau state seat in Kedah (Nov 4, 2013); Kajang state seat in Selangor (March 23, 2014); Balingian state seat in Sarawak (March 29, 2014); Bukit Gelugor parliamentary seat in Penang (May 25, 2014); Teluk Intan parliamentary seat in Perak (May 31, 2014); Pengkalan Kubor state seat in Kelantan (Sept 25, 2014) and Chempaka state seat in Kelantan (March 22, 2015).