Malaysia to vote on May 9 as Najib faces ex-premier

Bloomberg

Malaysians will cast their vote on May 9 in what will be a showdown between caretaker Prime Minister Najib Razak and Mahathir Mohamad, the nation’s longest-serving premier.
The campaign period will be shortened to 11 days, from 15 days in the 2013 election, with the nomination day for candidates set for April 28, Mohd Hashim Abdullah, chairman at the election commission, said.
At stake is 60 years of unbroken rule by Barisan Nasional coalition, with Najib, 64, at its helm. He seeks to extend his premiership for a third term, after leading his alliance to its worst showing in the previous election, when it lost the popular vote and won control of the parliament by its slimmest-ever margin five years ago. His contender is the 92-year-old Mahathir, who is leading opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan on a campaign anchored on
removing Najib.
“Setting the election date on a weekday is tactically advantageous for BN because it makes it more troublesome for urbanites to cast their votes,” Alan Richardson, a
fund manager at Samsung Asset Management Ltd. in Hong Kong said by email. “Urbanites seem to have the most complaints against the ruling government.”

Midweek Polls
The last time Malaysia held the polls in the middle of week was in 1982 when the vote was held starting on a Thursday. Elections since then were held on days varying from Friday to Monday.
Under the law, employers are required to give “reasonable period” for workers to cast their votes or be liable to a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($260) or one-year imprisonment.
Najib unveiled a manifesto targeted toward his vote bank: Muslims and ethnic Malays, civil servants, as well as Sabah and Sarawak states. He also promised to double cash transfers for the poor for the remainder of the year and introduced two new categories of recipients.
He pledged that his government would correct its past weaknesses, and that Malaysians would live “peacefully and prosperously” under his administration.
This comes after Najib weathered several years of backlash over millions of dollars in political donations and allegations of embezzlement. He has denied wrongdoing.
The opposition is capitalising on the scandal as well as the people’s concern over rising costs, with a promise to abolish the unpopular goods-and-services tax in its first 100 days in power while maintaining cash transfers.
Mahathir is the opposition’s choice for interim prime minister until its jailed de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim is eligible to take over. Pakatan Harapan is seeking a royal pardon for Anwar, with the prison’s director-general saying he is set to be released on June 8.
If the bid is successful, Anwar would still need to contest and win in a by-election for a parliamentary seat to be eligible to become the country’s prime minister.