Malaysia will hold its general election on March 8, said the country's Election Commission on Thursday.

Candidates will be nominated on Feb. 24, said Election Commission Chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman in Putrajaya, the administrative center of Malaysia.

The election would involve 222 parliamentary and 505 state seats in 12 states except for eastern Sarawak state which held its state election in 2006, Abdul Rashid said.

He said 10,922,139 were eligible to cast their votes based on the electoral roll gazetted on Feb. 5.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will lead the Barisan Nasional into the election for a second time.

On Wednesday, Badawi announced to dissolve the parliament to pave the way for general elections.

The assemblies of all states except for Sarawak were also dissolved Wednesday after the chief ministers sought consent from their respective rulers.

The dissolution came 15 months before the expiry of its five- year term on May 16, 2009. The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition swept to a landslide victory in the last general election in 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2008)