KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan told Parliament today it could cost RM1.2 billion to hold a general election at this time.

Takiyuddin said the Election Commission (EC) provided him with the estimate.

"When Pasir Gudang (MP Hassan bin Abdul Karim) explained, yes indeed the 14th general election cost RM500 million, and I was made to understand by the EC that if the government decides to hold a general election now, post-Covid-19, it is said to cost an estimated RM1.2 billion, not RM700 million,” Takiyuddin said while winding up the Supplementary Supply (2019) Bill 2020 for the EC in the Dewan Rakyat.

In February, then EC chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun estimated the cost for elections at between RM750 million and RM800 million.