The Election Commission has provided another example of its craven subservience to serve Umno interests .

The Election Commission today announced that the by-elections for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in Perak and the Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah will be held simultaneously on April 7.( Malaysiakini )

- Breaking news ? yes, Heart Breaking News

Integrity of Election Commission under spotlight once again.

" Tomorrow, if they decide to hold the by-elections too long a time for now (say perhaps after the March Umno General Assembly), contrary to the pattern shown in Kuala Terengganu and Permatang Pauh, they should catch hell once again for being puppets and biased protectors of a crumbling ruling party."

The Election Commission has provided another example of its craven subservience to serve Umno interests in fixing the simultaneous nomination and polling dates for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in Perak and the Bukit Selambau state assembly seat in Kedah on March 29 and April 7 respectively.

Clearly, the fractious and internecine Umno party elections until March 28 had been the primary consideration of the Election Commission when deciding on the two by-election dates, so that the by-election campaign for the two constituencies will be held after the Umno party elections and Datuk Seri Najib Razak has officially taken over UMNO and become the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Nevertheless, Malaysia's incoming prime minister will face his first referendum in two simultaneous by-elections just days after taking office in early April - April Fool day.

Good timing. Coincidentally, the Election Commission set the two by-elections on 7 April. The EC really know how to help Najib out.

"Whether intended or not, the timing of the two polls means it will be seen as referendum on Najib as Prime Minister," said Ibrahim Suffian, director of respected opinion pollster the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research.

According to the tradition in Europe, on the Festival April 1, the masses would cheer and run amok in the streets to celebrate a newly crowned the King of the Fools.

Good Luck, C4, the King of the Fool!

The polls, to be held a month after the government's rollout of a second stimulus package, will also gauge public acceptance of Najib Razak's management of a country whose exports are tumbling and whose economy looks set to slide into its first likely recession in eight years.

The polls are a just week after Najib takes office as Malaysia's sixth Prime Minister with poll ratings that stand at 41 percent versus 46 percent for incumbent Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.