Umno confident election will be held between October and December this year
Umno’s optimism that the general election will be held this year was buoyed by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s speech that touched on the dissolution of Parliament in the near future, said Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan.
“Umno is confident that GE15 will be held between October and December this year. But it has to be before the flood.
“If floods are expected in December, don’t hold (GE15) then.
“The polls can also be held in November. If the election is in November, it means that (the Parliament) has to be dissolved in October,” he said on Sunday.
On Saturday, Datuk Seri Ismail hinted that GE15 would be held as soon as possible during his speech at the launch of the Barisan Youth machinery in Kuala Lumpur.
He is also reported to have repeated his stance and promised to immediately discuss with the party’s “top five” about the dissolution of Parliament.
The five refers to its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and the three vice-presidents; Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid and Ismail Sabri himself.
Datuk Ahmad Maslan also confirmed that the “top five” meeting on Sept 30 would go on as scheduled.
There has been widespread circulation on Malaysian social media that the government will dissolve Parliament on Oct 14 and that GE15 will be held on Nov 27 with nomination day on Nov 12.
This year’s Association of South-east Asian Nations summit will be held in Cambodia on Nov 10 to 13 while the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is scheduled for Nov 18 in Bangkok.
Malaysian premiers have always viewed these two summits as important diplomatic events and will attend them personally. Hence, some observers are skeptical about the speculated GE15 dates.
Meanwhile, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) said it will organize a petition to voice its objection to the possibility of GE15 being held during the monsoon season.
PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli said the move was to demonstrate the public’s displeasure with Umno over the willingness to risk holding elections when there is a danger of annual floods at the end of the year.
The online petition, to be held in a week from now, will seek to urge the Federal Government to instead focus on preparing the country for the floods.
“Recent flood tragedies, which have caused loss of property and lives, should serve as a lesson to political parties to not disregard issues of climate change.
“If politicians like Zahid still refuse to heed the lessons, it is only fair that we educate Umno and its leadership on the importance of prioritising the needs of the people,” he said in a statement.
He said Zahid was out of touch with the reality faced by people when he said on Saturday that Barisan Nasional was willing to brave the floods if GE15 was called.
In response, Zahid said former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad called for an election during the monsoon season in 1999.
Zahid said the Opposition is trying to incite the public by saying that holding snap polls towards the end of the year will expose them to the risk of floods.
“They (critics) have forgotten that… Dr Mahathir had called for an election in November 1999, but that did not become a big issue,” he said in a Facebook post on Monday.
Budget 2000 was tabled in Parliament on Oct 29, 1999 by then finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, but Parliament was dissolved on Nov 10 before it could be passed.