Malaysia sets snap polls for Nov 29

The opposition, which says it is hamstrung by short campaign periods, swiftly complained.

8220;The campaigning period is far too short,8221; parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party told Reuters.

8220;It is unfair as it does not allow over nine million voters to have access to the programmes and policies of the competing candidates and parties, especially with the mass media so one-sided, biased and unfair.8221;

Malaysia8217;s newspapers, television stations and radio are licensed by the government, which directly or indirectly controls the main media outlets.

The commission defended its decision.

8220;We have decided that the eight days we have given are appropriate. All the parties have been campaigning for months,8221; Commission chairman Omar Hashim told a news conference.

Political parties have been holding public rallies and putting up party flags and banners in public places over the past several months.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad dissolved parliament this week to clear the way for early elections his 14-party coalition is expected to win but which could be the closest he has fought since winning power in 1981.

They will be the first nationwide elections since he sacked his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim and imposed capital controls in September 1998.

The opposition has chosen Anwar as its candidate for prime minister, but the Election Commission declined to say whether he would be able to run.

Lim had earlier asked for 10 days between the dissolution of parliament and nomination day, and at least three weeks between nomination day and polling 8212; a total of at least 41 days.

The opposition is now faced with 17 days 8212; the average length in the past three elections. But the eight-day campaigning period was the shortest in at least 30 years, Lim said.

The Election Commission head said the panel had taken into account the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on December 8 or 9, as well as the onset of the annual year-end monsoon and school examinations which start on November 22.

The commission broke with tradition by fixing only one day for polls. Usually the remote states of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo island have two days.

Mahathir8217;s Barisan Nasional National Front coalition, which has held power since independence in 1957, is expected to win the election but the opposition, galvanised by Anwar8217;s sacking and imprisonment, hopes to deny the coalition the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution.

8220;We don8217;t know who8217;s going to stand in the election,8221; Omar Hashim said when asked if Anwar would be allowed to run.

Anwar was sentenced in April to six years in jail for corruption and is standing trial on one count of sodomy, which he denies.

By law, anyone fined at least 2,000 Ringgit 525 or imprisoned for one year or more is disqualified from running for legislative office for five years after the prison term ends.

But Anwar has not been disqualified as a member of parliament because he has appealed against his corruption conviction, and there has been no ruling on whether he can stand in the snap general elections.

His sacking and imprisonment had touched off unprecedented anti- government protests.