KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysians will head to the ballot box on May 5, for what is shaping up to be one of the most closely-fought elections in the history of Singapore’s next-door neighbour.

While speculation was rife that Polling Day would be earlier, political pundits were not surprised by the 15-day campaign period — the longest in about three decades — decided upon by the country’s Election Commission, given the expected intensity of the electoral contests.

Nomination Day is on April 20. There are 222 Parliamentary and 505 state seats at stake. Sarawak will sit out this round of state elections as it went to the polls in 2011.

Some 13.3 million Malaysians are eligible to vote this time around, with first-time voters making up about 2.6 million of this number.

Analysts have noted that the election is crucial to Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is seeking a mandate to carry on with the country’s economic transformation after taking over in 2009 as the country’s sixth Prime Minister.

Election Commission Chair Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said in a televised press conference: “We have checked and decided on May 5 as the date for elections, because the date is free from any important events.”

While the political parties are only allowed to campaign from Nomination Day onwards, election fever has gripped the country since Mr Najib dissolved Parliament last Wednesday.

Yesterday’s announcement was a prelude to a flurry of election activities in Malaysia’s capital: The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition organised a closed-door session at the Putra World Trade Centre where Mr Najib gave an “explosive” speech — in the words of members of the audience — to hundreds of BN leaders.

About 1,000 United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) Selangor activists also gathered in Shah Alam, where they were asked by BN deputy chief for Selangor Noh Omar and BN’s Selangor coordinator Mohd Zin Mohamed to support the candidates that Mr Najib puts up for the 22 Parliament and 56 state seats at stake in Selangor.

The Parti Keadilan Rakyat also held a rally last night where about 2,000 people turned up despite a drizzle.

Opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim, who was the star attraction at the rally, said the BN was “at a disconnect with the people”. Speaking in Malay, he said: “UMNO leaders are blind with both their eyes and their hearts — they don’t know the hardship of the people. I’m making promises ... but why is Najib making promises when he is the Prime Minister? He should just be doing (things instead).”

In the previous elections in 2008, political parties were allowed to campaign officially for 13 days. The results were described as a political tsunami, with the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, capturing five states. The BN won 50.27 per cent of the popular vote, while Pakatan took 46.8 per cent.

Ms Ambiga Sreenevasan — the co-chair of electoral reform movement, Bersih — told The Malaysian Insider that the 15-day official campaign period was “acceptable”. She said: “I can’t say I’m displeased. It’s much longer than we’ve had in a long time.”

“Given that there has already been a lot of campaigning going on, it’s an acceptable campaign period, though ideally we wanted 21 days,” she added, referring to one of Bersih’s previous demands to the Election Committee.

Merdeka Centre Director Ibrahim Suffian noted that with Polling Day several weeks away, Malaysians have “ample time” to return to their hometowns to vote. While the lengthy campaign period may benefit the resource-strapped opposition, it would not give them much of an edge, he felt.

Dr Ooi Kee Beng, the Deputy Director of Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said that a short campaign period would be “bad” for Mr Najib’s campaign, “with all the talk of electoral fraud and dubious practices”. He added that Mr Najib could need more time to get the BN’s candidate list ready.

Indeed, the message from the BN camp was consistent yesterday. At a press conference after his closed-door session with BN leaders, Mr Najib said that he had pointed out to them that it would be “impossible” to please everyone when drawing up the party’s final candidates list. He added: “I took the opportunity to tell them the few factors that we need to take into consideration in the division of seats and the identification of candidates, so that they understand that this is a complex and complicated process.”

Similarly, Mr Mohd Zin told reporters after the pow-wow in Shah Alam that there were many qualified candidates but only a limited number would be selected to run.

The objective, he stressed, was for the BN to win back Selangor. He added that BN Selangor’s manifesto — which would be unveiled by Mr Najib next week — would focus on value-added developments along the coast of Port Klang leading to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

“The plan is to create a new growth centre that will leverage on the knowledge-based economy,” he said.

Residents in Kuala Lumpur whom TODAY spoke to said they were looking forward to a keenly-contested 13th general election. Ms Maya Sidhu, 26, a student, said she has been waiting for the elections since June last year, when there were rumours that the polls were imminent.

Mr Samuel Ng, 30, an architect, said: “They never stopped campaigning since the previous GE ... The ruling party got shocked by the results of the previous GE and they have been actively campaigning to ensure they remain in power. But the opposition has smelt blood and they’re going all out to grab power.”