Malaysia will hold its 13 th general election on May 5, Chairman of the Malaysian Election Commission Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof announced on April 9.

In the commission’s live-broadcast announcement, Abdul Aziz said all total of 222 parliamentary seats and 505 State seats will be elected during the day.

Earlier, on April 3, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had declared to dissolve the parliament, paving the way for the general election, which is considered one of the fiercest races between the ruling coalition National Front (BN) and the People’s Alliance (PR).

Najib's National Front suffered its worst ever showing in history by winning only 140 of the 222 seats in the parliament - less than two-thirds of the legislative majority, and lost five out of 13 State seats to opposition People's Alliance in the 2008 elections.

The National Front has ruled the country since its independence 56 years ago.-VNA