MELAKA: The race for the 28 State Legislative Assembly seats in the 16th Melaka state election is taking shape, with 75 candidates announced so far by the five coalitions and parties set to contest.
The candidate announcement process began as early as August, with Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) becoming the first to unveil its 16 candidates.
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This was followed by Pakatan Harapan (PH), which announced on Oct 24 that it would contest 21 seats before adding three more, bringing its total to 24.
Within the coalition, 10 seats have been allocated to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), seven to DAP and seven to Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).
Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional (BN) will contest 22 seats, fielding 18 candidates from UMNO, three from MCA and one from MIC.
Last night, Perikatan Nasional (PN) also announced five candidates, comprising two from PAS, two from Wawasan and one from Gerakan, while Bersatu is fielding eight candidates.
Based on the candidate announcements by PH, BN, PN, Bersama and Bersatu as of last night, the contests are expected to comprise 13 straight fights (one-on-one), 11 three-cornered fights and four four-cornered fights.
As of last night, 189 nomination forms had reportedly been purchased, while 45 prospective candidates had paid their deposits.
The Election Commission (EC) has set polling day for the Melaka state election on Nov 14, with nomination on Oct 31 and early voting on Nov 10.
