VZCZCXRO7907
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHKL #0095 0450908
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 140908Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0536
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 2467
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0383
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHHMUNB/JIATF WEST PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS KUALA LUMPUR 000095 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KISL MY
SUBJECT: ELECTION DAY SET FOR MARCH 8 
 
REF: KUALA LUMPUR 90 - ELECTION PRIMER 
 
¶1.  (U) One day after Prime Minister Abdullah announced the 
dissolution of Parliament and set the election process in 
motion (reftel), Malaysia's Election Commission (EC) 
announced on February 14 that it has set Election Day for 
Saturday, March 8.  The EC also set February 24 as the date 
for nominating candidates.  Afterward, all candidates have 
three days in which to request their names be removed from 
the ballot should they decide not to accept the nomination. 
The campaign period will run from February 25 through March 
¶7.  The 13-day campaign period is the longest allowed since 
the 6th General Election of 1982 when the parties were given 
14 days to campaign.  In the 2004 national election, the 
campaign period lasted only seven days. 
 
¶2.  (U) Also on February 14, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad 
Badawi chaired the ruling coalition's executive council 
meeting at the United Malay's National Organization (UMNO) 
headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.  National Front (Barisan 
Nasional / BN) component party leaders met to finalize the 
coalition's list of candidates and confirm seat distributions 
among the 14 component parties.  The parties are expected to 
release their candidate lists in the next two to three days. 
The local press also reported that UMNO's Supreme Council was 
scheduled to meet on February 14 to discuss the party's 
preparations for the elections. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the 
People's Justice Party (PKR) Anwar Ibrahim lambasted 
Abdullah's dissolution of parliament as "shameful" and argued 
in a press conference on February 13 that the only reason 
Abdullah would dissolve Parliament when it held 90 percent of 
the seats was to exclude Anwar from contesting the election 
(see reftel).  Anwar argued that a lack of access to the 
media and fraud in Malaysia's voter lists created neither 
free nor fair elections.  None of the mainstream newspapers 
or televisions stations reported Anwar's criticism, and all 
gave very short shrift to statements from opposition parties. 
 The Democratic Action Party (DAP), PKR and the Islamic Party 
of Malaysia (PAS) all used the online media to release the 
messages regarding the start of the election cycle.  The 
loosely allied opposition parties boasted that negotiations 
over seat allocations were nearly complete and promised that 
in almost all cases the races would see only one opposition 
candidate in order to to avoid "three cornered fights" with 
BN candidates. 
KEITH