GE13: 579 contesting 222 federal seats, 1,320 in 505 state seats

By Zurairi AR

PUTRAJAYA, April 20 – A total of 579 candidates will contest 222 parliamentary seats in the May 5 general elections including a record 79 independents, the Election Commission (EC) announced today.
This is the first time since the 1959 elections in the then independent Malaya to have a contest in all constituencies.
At the close of nomination today, the Barisan Nasional (BN) had registered 221 candidates with the rest from PKR (99), PAS (73), DAP (51), independents (79), State Reform Party (STAR) (28), Berjasa (9), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) (8), Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) (6), Kita (2), Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) (2), and Bersama (1).
The BN candidate for Pasir Mas Che Johan Che Pa failed to file his nomination form this morning.
The EC said 1,320 candidates will contest state seats in 12 states, made of those from BN (505), PAS (236), PKR (172), DAP (102), independents (190), STAR (49), SAPP (41), Berjasa (5), Kita (11), Bersama (4), PCM (3), and Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) (2).
The number of independent candidates has also more than doubled since the last general election in 2008, when 36 independent candidates contested the federal seats, while 66 contested the state seats.
Some 13.3 million voters, including 5,200 abroad, are eligible to cast their ballots in Election 2013 to elect lawmakers in 222 federal and 505 state seats in 12 states. Sarawak already held its state elections in 2011.
The EC announced on April 10 that the 13th general election will be held on May 5, and nomination day falls today, which will signal the start of formal electoral campaigns that will last 15 days.
The EC had said voters abroad will cast their ballots at Malaysian embassies and high commissions around the world on April 28 while postal voters will do so on April 30.

Source themalaysianinsider