KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — The Election Commission will determine the campaign period for the 14th general election by taking into account various aspects including the festive season, said EC chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah.

He said that apart from fulfilling the rule of a minimum campaign period of 11 days, the EC could not set a campaign period according to the wishes of any political party contesting the election.

"The duration is dependent on the authority of the EC. We have to look at many aspects. We have to study the calendar, for example, in which month the election is being called. Is it during the (Ramadan) fasting month or the Aidilfitri month? We have to consider all these.

We work within that time. If you ask me, I will just agree. It does not matter if it (the campaign period) is short or long. Our only hope is that the campaigning will adhere to ethics,” he said during question time at an election briefing for the media at Wisma Bernama here today.

Mohd Hashim was replying to a question posed by Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) general manager Datuk Zulkefli Salleh on the request by some political parties for a longer campaign period in GE14.

On a campaign to spoil votes that went viral on social media recently, Mohd Hashim said these people should not have expressed their anger in such a way but should use their right as voters to elect the country’s administration.

He said such a movement (to spoil votes) should not happen in a country that had been independent for 60 years and was about to have its 14th general election.

"The EC does not lose anything. Do you want to vent your anger at a political party? That’s not the way. If you are angry with a political party, then go to the polls,” he said.

Mohd Hashim said that in GE13, up to 173,868 votes or 1.3 per cent were spoilt out of a total of 13.26 million voters. There was so much scribbling on some ballot papers that it was difficult to determine which candidate was selected or, in other cases, all the candidates were chosen.

"So, in the 14th general election, is there going to be a repeat of this?” he said, and called for cooperation from the media to help the EC raise awareness among the voters.

As of the fourth quarter of 2017, the EC recorded 14,968,304 registered voters comprising 7.3 million males (49.4 per cent) and 7.5 million females (50.6 per cent), with 6.2 million of them aged between 21 and 39.

On the 3.6 million Malaysian citizens aged 21 and above who have yet to register as voters, Mohd Hashim expressed concern saying they could shape the pattern of the election of candidates in the future.

Although the Federal Constitution did not require Malaysian citizens to register as voters and go to the polls, he said, they should have a sense of responsibility as voters to determine the future of the country.

Replying to a question from Bernama Editor-in-Chief Datuk Zakaria Abdul Wahab on the flags of various political parties already raised in many areas even before the announcement of the 14th general election, he said the EC did not have the authority to stop this.

"Prior to the dissolution (of Parliament and the state legislative assemblies), the authority to remove these flags rests with the local authorities and it is up to them to take action.

"After the dissolution, the EC will set the rules. A team will monitor this during the campaign period. There is a prohibition on putting up posters depicting bad images of individuals,” he said. — Bernama