KUALA LUMPUR: The Johor and Kelantan governments today announced that this Sunday (Nov 20) is a replacement holiday in both states in conjunction with the polling day for the 15th General Election (GE15) to be held this Saturday.
In JOHOR, Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi (pix), in a posting on his official Facebook, said Nov 20 is declared a holiday on the consent of the Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar to replace the Friday public holiday with Sunday.
“After getting the consent of the Sultan of Johor, the state government agreed to replace the public holiday with a substitute holiday on Nov 20, which is Sunday,“ he added.
Onn Hafiz said the replacement holiday was also given as a sign of appreciation to electors for going out to fulfill their responsibility as voters.
“Every vote from you will ensure that the process of democracy and national development continues to grow. This is for the well-being of the people of Johor and Malaysia in general, for the next five years,“ he said.
In KELANTAN, Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob said the decision was made in line with the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob last Monday in declaring Nov 18 and 19 as public holidays.
“The State Legislative Council, which met today, agreed to declare Nov 18 and 19, 2022 (Friday and Saturday) as public holidays in Kelantan.
“Given that the public holidays fall on a weekend in Kelantan, which is Friday and Saturday, then the following day, Sunday, Nov 20, 2022, will be a public holiday,“ he said in a statement here today.
Ahmad said the matter was in line with State Service Circular Number 7 of 1996.
Last Monday, Ismail Sabri announced Nov 18 and 19 as public holidays to ensure the Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family) do not shirk their responsibilities to the country.
The Prime Minister also said that the 30 highway concessionaires had agreed to offer free toll rates for the two days in conjunction with GE15 to make it easier for electors to return to their hometowns to vote.
The free toll will start from 12.01 am on Nov 18 (Friday) until 11.59 pm on Saturday (Nov 19) for all Class 1 private vehicles only.
The Election Commission (EC) has set this Saturday (Nov 19) as the polling day for GE15.
IN KUALA TERENGGANU, the state government also announced Nov 20 as the replacement holiday in conjunction with GE15 which will be held on Saturday.
State Secretary, Tengku Seri Bijaya Raja, Datuk Tengku Farok Hussin Tengku Abdul Jalil said the decision was made considering the public holiday falls on the weekend holiday for Terengganu, which is Friday and Saturday.
“So the public holiday which falls on Nov 19 will be replaced on the following day, which is Nov 20, in accordance with Section 3, Holidays Act 1951,“ he said in a statement today.-Bernama
