KUALA LUMPUR: A digital clock at the Wanita Umno office here counting down the days to the general election got the media buzzing with excitement.

The clock displayed on a TV screen hung on the wall at the lobby of the office located at Level 37 of Menara Dato’ Onn, shows that that there are 49 days to go, with the clock counting down the hours, minutes and seconds to zero.

A caption above the clock reads:

“The 14th general election.”

Based on the calculation of 49 days, the date would fall on May 4.

The media who were gathered at the Wanita office while waiting for the movement’s exco meeting to start immediately asked Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil when she arrived.

“Actually the countdown is based on five years after GE13 which was held on May 5, 2013.

“It is just for our internal benchmarking to gauge the readiness of our preparations.

“However, I think that the coming general election may be earlier than this date (May 4),” Shahrizat said before proceeding to chair the meeting.