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KUCHING, Wed: The Sarawak state election may not be held at least
in the next two months as the Election Commission will only complete
its briefings to its 16,000 staff and officers by mid-May.
Commission chairman Datuk Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the operation
rooms will also be ready by then.
Speaking to reporters
after a briefmg for returning and deputy returning officers conducted
by commission secretary Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, Abdul Rashid said
preferably, the election should be held before the rainy season
begins in October.
Rashid said the commission
has made a lot of improvements to the election system and the latest
was reducing polling to only one day, compared to a month, during
the first state election 1969.
He said the commission
has also allocated RM24 million for the coming state election, a
three-fold increase compared to the 1996 election.
"A big allocation
is needed to ensure the smooth running of the election," Rashid
said, adding that helicopter services, which will be required in
remote areas, take up most of the costs.
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