KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): The 16th Melaka election will be held on Nov 14, the Election Commission (EC) announced after a special meeting on Wednesday.
The EC set nomination day for Oct 31 and early voting on Nov 10. This means polls candidates are allowed 14 days of campaigning once they file their nominations papers.
The polls regulator said there are 687,697 voters on Melaka's election roll: 675,166 normal voters; 9,769 military personnel and their spouses; and 2,763 police personnel.
On Sept 22, Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh announced the dissolution of the 28-seat Melaka assembly, effective Sept 23, paving the way for the state election.
In the previous state election in 2021, Barisan Nasional (BN) won 21 seats to form the state government, while Pakatan Harapan (PH) won five seats and Perikatan Nasional (PN) won two.
Though BN initially governed alone, PH was invited to the state executive council (exco) in 2023 to mirror the unity government structure at the federal level.
However, on July 14, PH component party DAP withdrew from the state administration, citing its disagreement with the an amendment to the Melaka constitution to allow for non-elected members in the state assembly.
This will be the third state election this year, following polls in Johor and Negeri Sembilan which BN won handily after cooperating with federal opposition pact PN.
Political allegiances for the Melaka election have not been finalised, with all three major coalitions saying they are open to cooperating with each other.
PN is also heading to the Melaka polls facing deregistration by the Registrar of Societies. However, it has mounted a court challenge to the RoS action, which stems from tensions between PN's two dominant parties of PAS and Bersatu.
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