[PHOTOS] High temperature, peaceful Melaka nomination day

KUALA LUMPUR – What does it mean to have an election without face-to-face campaigns and mass rallies?

Election season provides an opportunity for politicians to go down to the ground to meet their voters.

There may be voters who are unfamiliar with the contesting candidates and the 12-day campaign set by the Election Commission will give them a chance to introduce themselves to the voters after a long “disappearance”.

However, the Covid-19 epidemic that is currently hitting the country has caused the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be tightened to prevent the virus from spreading further.

Very strict SOPs were given to all parties contesting, so today’s nomination day seemed like nothing had happened.

If not for the presence of the media and authorities at the nomination centres, surely some will not realize that Melaka is now entering its election season. It was too quiet.

However, temperature was high after seeing 112 individuals contest for the 28 seats in the state assembly.

Of that, three constituencies saw six-cornered competitions; five constituencies saw five-cornered fights, 9 constituencies (four corners) and 11 constituencies (three corners).

The Melaka election also saw Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan betting on candidates in all constituencies, while the new Putra had 5 candidates, Iman (one candidate) and Bebas with 22 candidates contesting.

With the strict SOPs, contesting political parties were seen using social media to convey information on campaigns to voters in addition to using mobile promotions.

The atmosphere at today’s nomination day was captured by The Vibes’ shutterbugs, Azim Rahman, Alif Omar, Syeda Imran and Mustaffa Kamal. – The Vibes, November 8, 2021