KUCHING, April 14 ― The 11th Sarawak elections will be held on May 7 while nomination is fixed for April 25, Election Commission (EC) chairman Datuk Seri Hashim Abdullah announced today.

He said the EC has allocated 12 days for contesting political parties to campaign for their candidates.

“The electoral rolls approved on December 31 and updated on April 10 will be used in the election,” he said.

He said out of 1,138,650 registered voters, 25,022 of them are soldiers and their wives as well as policemen, and 106 will be absentee voters of Malaysians residing overseas.

Hashim also dismissed claims that the dates of nomination and polling were decided by the Sarawak Chief Minister's Office.

He said that such claims, made after Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem yesterday appeared to suggest that April 25 would be nomination day, were speculative.

“We fixed the dates at our meeting this morning and any suggestion that the dates were proposed by the Chief Minister's Office is purely speculation,” he said.

Hashim said the EC received Letter of Instrument from the Sarawak Speaker Datuk Amar Asfia Awang Nasar on April 1 to dissolve the Sarawak State Assembly on April 11.

He said the state election must be held within 60 days from the date of dissolution.

He said that the meeting today agreed to appoint 82 Returning Officers to conduct the elections in 82 constituencies.

He added that the commission has also set up an enforcement centre to monitor the conduct of campaigns by the political parties.

Hashim said a total of 1,879 premises will be used for polling centres consisting of 2,959 channels.

“A total of 20,811 staff will be appointed to run the process of the election which will involve an allocation of RM135.6 million,” he said.

He said the EC will issue the election writs today and notice of holding the elections on April 15.

He said the EC has fixed May 3 for early voters to cast their votes.

Hashim also announced that the EC has approved an application by Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS Baru) to use its own symbol in the election.