He said the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-led government should declare Nov 19, which falls on a Saturday, a special holiday to enable workers to cast their votes.

Leiking, who is defending his Penampang seat in the 15th general election, said most Sabahans work on Saturdays.

“While I understand that it could disrupt the daily operations, it would be wrong to prevent people from exercising their voting rights and in choosing the next federal government.

“Maybe we could get the employers to allow their employees to do shifts, to help mitigate any disruptions in their operations,” he told FMT.

Earlier today, Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari declared that Nov 18 would be a state holiday.

Amirudin said the decision was made as there were many Malaysians working and residing in Selangor, but were registered voters in their hometowns in other states.

He also called on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to declare Nov 18 a nationwide public holiday to make it easier for voters to cast their ballots on Nov 19.