No posters or street campaigns, UK goes for landmark election
MANCHESTER: The United Kingdom goes for a landmark general election today as it would set the country’s future direction in the region and the world.
This is UK’s second general election since 2017 and the third in under five years.
The 2019 UK election was brought forward from May 2022, undoubtedly driven by Brexit and its delivery, hence citizens are analysing manifestos and issues with a critical eye.
But unlike Malaysia in election times, the situation around the city remains calm and quiet and there are no posters or street campaigns.
It is just like any other day, albeit more than 46 million eligible voters, who are above 18, would decide whether the next Prime Minister would be Boris Johnson from the conservative party, who is steadfast in getting the Brexit done, or Jeremy Corbyn from the labour party.
Based on the observation around polling centres around Salford city, which started to open for voters at 7am and would close at 10pm, there is no long queue of voters or even the presence of ambulance or police waiting in standby, in case of emergency.
Most of the election-related activities take place on the cyberworld and the radio and television broadcast media.
According to Ahmad Sharizal Khalid, 45, a Malaysian who has lived in Manchester for almost 15 years, the situation is common in the UK and political campaigns are hardly seen even during pre-election period.
“This is contrary to the situation in Malaysia, whereby we can see people on the streets showing support and inclination towards their political parties,” he said when contacted today.
He hoped that the 2019 UK general election would make a difference, especially in welcoming more people to the country.
There are 650 constituencies across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and voting will take place in 40,000 polling stations, with results expected to be released early Friday (local time).
— BERNAMA
