GEORGE TOWN – Penang is not in favour of a year-end general election and expects a low voter turnout if polls are held during the monsoon season, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said.
Chow, who is also Penang DAP chairman, added he is reluctant to commit the state to an early election during the floods before its assembly’s full term ends next year.
“I would rather have us wait for the weather to be suitable.
“I think our democratic principles would be compromised if voters have to brave floods and landslides just to cast their ballots. The voter turnout will naturally be low,” he said at a press conference today.
However, as the date progresses towards the end of Parliament’s full term next year, he said, Penang would be inclined to follow the federal government and hold state elections simultaneously with parliamentary elections.
"But not during the monsoon season where flooding would likely disrupt the lives of the common folk.”
A mild La Nina weather phenomenon and higher rainfall are expected in the fourth quarter of the year, according to reports by the Meteorological Department.
Chow said that schools would likely be earmarked as flood relief centres and would thus be unsuitable for use as polling centres.
When asked if the move to conduct an election during flood season was a strategy for Barisan Nasional, Chow replied that even with a low turnout, voters might vote against BN for deliberately endangering their lives. – The Vibes, September 20, 2022
