Malaysia set for general election on March 8

Motorcyclists ride past Malaysian political parties' flags put up on the main road in the east coast state of Terengganu February 14, 2008. Malaysia will hold a general election on March 8, the Election Commission said on Thursday, with the premier taking the country to the polls early despite growing discord over race and religious issues. (REUTERS/Zainal Abd Halim)

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) - Malaysia will hold a general election on March 8, the Election Commission said on Thursday, with the premier taking the country to the polls early despite growing discord over race and religious issues.

The next election was not due until May 2009.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in power since 2003, secured the dissolution of parliament on Wednesday and is viewed as certain to win the poll, but with a reduced majority.

He faces a likely swing against the ruling coalition, with minority ethnic Chinese and Indians particularly unhappy with his government, which is dominated by ethnic Malay politicians.

Analysts say he is calling a poll now because the electoral mood is unlikely to improve through the rest of his term and that the economy, his main selling point, is slowing down.

The vote is also crucial for the opposition, with the future of its de facto leader, Anwar Ibrahim, at stake.

Abdullah dismissed Anwar's suggestion that he called early polls in order to exclude Anwar, who is barred from standing for public office until April because of a past criminal record.

"It's nothing to do with Anwar. We have forgotten about Anwar. Forget. I don't remember about Anwar," he said after meeting top leaders of his own party and the ruling coalition.

Speaking in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Anwar called the election "unprecedented" and said the government had resorted to a "dirty trick" to deny him the right to participate.

Commission Chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman declined to comment on the possibility of Anwar seeking a court order to set aside the ban so that he could stand in the March 8 polls.

"That's a question I don't want to answer," he said.

The election schedule leaves only 13 days of campaigning between the day for nominating candidates, February 24, and polling day. Under Malaysian electoral rules, parties can only start active campaigning after nomination day.

Abdul Rashid also defended the campaign period, which is traditionally short in Malaysia after a lengthy and racially divisive campaign almost 40 years ago led to race riots in which hundreds of people were killed.

"It's more than sufficient," he said. "We have been very fair in that respect.

"As I have said, we want a fair and free election," he said. But he said there would be no foreign monitors for the polls because the commission's laws have no such provision.

Opposition parties say the short campaigning period suits the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition, which has governed in various forms since independence in 1957.

With the mainstream media all pro-government, the opposition complains it has too little time to reach voters through campaign rallies and house calls, the main means available to them.

Abdul Rashid said his commission could not force the media to provide equal access to all. "We can only ask the media."

(Additional reporting by John Ruwitch in Hong Kong)

(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)