THE 14th general election will be held by the third week of next month, a Malacca Barisan Nasional insider was quoted as saying in the Straits Times today.

The insider, who has worked in the ruling coalition’s main election war room in the past two general elections, said preparations were under way to identify white, grey and black areas.

The Straits Times also reported that BN would hold a dry run for GE14 this month after weeks of closed-door meetings.

Umno information chief Annuar Musa said tests had been held over the last two weeks to determine the entire system’s efficiency.

“We want to ensure that all systems are in order. We are testing logistics, polling agents and all related components.

“We need to identify weaknesses in the system and rectify them accordingly,” he was quoted as saying.

In Selangor, the dry run, to be held on March 17, will test BN’s strengths, as well as the viability of the available machinery and manpower.

“It will be a practice run of the operational procedures on polling day, as well as to test out the polling day machinery,” said Selangor Umno liaison committee deputy chief Mat Nadzari Ahmad Dahlan.

Kapar Umno division chief Faizal Abdullah said BN would hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the dry run, which he said would be held between 9am and 11am.

A Sabah BN official said the dry run in the state would involve all 25 parliamentary constituencies.

“Everyone in each polling district is expected to run through their voters and report back to the heads of the respective constituencies.

“All information will be fed back to the state leadership, and then to the headquarters.”

Penang BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow said a meeting would be held today to finalise the details of the dry run in the state.

“I can only confirm the date of the dry run and other related details after the meeting,” he was quoted as saying.

A state Umno division chief said BN had asked division leaders to pick a date, beginning yesterday, to hold the dry run before the actual polls simulation day on March 17.

Pulai MP Nur Jazlan Mohamed said a dry run was conducted in the constituency a month ago.

“This is the most prepared BN has ever been,” said the Johor lawmaker.

In Malacca, the state BN will hold a dry run on March 11, with the insider saying it would go on from 8am to 11am, and be held simultaneously in all six parliamentary constituencies.

The report quoted Chief Minister Idris Haron as saying GE14 would be held “very soon”, and state MCA chairman Lim Ban Hong as saying the party’s machinery was ready to face the polls at “any time”. – March 5, 2018.