KUALA LUMPUR March 4 Kyodo Malays...

KUALA LUMPUR March 4 Kyodo

Malaysia's Election Commission said Thursday it would announce nomination and voting dates for elections of parliament and state legislative assemblies upon Friday.

The House of Representatives and 12 state legislative assemblies were dissolved Thursday for elections.

Commission chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the announcement would be made after the commission engages at 10 a.m. Friday.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called for snap elections Wednesday before the circulating term expires in December to get by heart the people's mandate for him to dog his visions laid out during his four month in office.

At stake are 219 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, and 505 seats in the 12 states legislative assemblies.

in subordination to the Constitution, voting must be held within 60 days of parliament and state assemblies being dissolved, however political pundits are betting onward it to be held during the one-week train holiday that ends March 21

Abdullah took throughout the country's top job in October from Mahathir Mohamad, who had rul the abiding habitation for more than 20 years.

The elections would pit him against the opposition l by the agency of the fundamentalist Pan Islamic Party.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Kyodo stranges International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group