Putrajaya has declared a special public holiday on May 9 to enable Malaysians to cast their votes in the 14th general elections.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said it was invoking the Holidays Act 1951 to make polling day an ad hoc national holiday.
“Pursuant to the Election Commission’s announcement that the 14th general election will be on May 9, 2018, the government has set the day to be an additional public holiday for the entire country.
“This is to let Malaysians fulfil their duties as voters,” the PMO said in a statement.
Yesterday at around 4pm, a petition was launched on the website Change.org pleading the Yang diPertuan Agong to declare May 9 a public holiday.
In less than a day, more than 115,000 people had signed the petition.