[UPDATED] Don’t decide GE15 date based on threats, Anwar warns PM

KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob must not bow down to pressure from those urging for an expedited 15th general election (GE15) for selfish reasons, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today. 

While Anwar did not refer to any particular individual, he stressed that the prime minister should not cave into demands issued by those who may have a vested interest in an early GE15.

“The prime minister cannot set a date for GE15 based on the threats made by a small group (with interests in) closing their court cases,” he told reporters at Universiti Malaya here. 

The Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman and Port Dickson MP had earlier participated in a town hall event with youth and marginalised groups.  

Anwar said this when asked to comment on the likelihood of GE15 being brought forward, since the tabling of the 2023 national budget in the Dewan Rakyat has been advanced by three weeks to October 7. 

“There is definitely a possibility (that GE15 will be brought forward),” he said. 

“Pakatan Harapan is expecting GE15 to take place either around the end of October or early November this year,” he said, adding that the coalition is already prepping its election machinery.

For the record, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, along with several other Barisan Nasional personalities, have been vocal with their push for a national election soon, ostensibly riding on the high of the party’s landslide wins in the state polls in Melaka in November and Johor in March.

Incidentally, Zahid is also facing 33 charges of receiving bribes amounting to S$13.56 million (RM42 million) from Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd, with the corruption trial currently ongoing at the high court. 

On September 9, The Vibes reported on the possibility that GE15 will be called soon as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has brought forward the tabling of Budget 2023 from October 28 to October 7.

There are concerns that Ismail Sabri will likely dissolve Parliament a few days after tabling the budget, mirroring the move done by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1999.

This has sparked questions about whether complications could arise if the budget, which includes operational expenditures such as salaries and procurement of government apparatus, fails to be passed in the current term of Parliament and if there is a snag in the outcome of the national polls.

Former DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang, who is now Iskandar Puteri MP, said that although there is nothing to stop Ismail Sabri from advising the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament after the tabling of the Budget 2023, it would be wrong and a bad example of the prime minister misusing his powers.

He said the king should then advise Ismail Sabri to let Parliament debate and pass the budget unless a no-confidence motion against the prime minister is adopted by Dewan Rakyat.

Pakatan leadership to mull implications of Muda joining

Meanwhile, Anwar also said today that the PH presidential council will be meeting in a few days to discuss several matters, including the issue of Muda expressing interest in joining the coalition for GE15. 

Despite several PKR Youth members expressing their distaste and unwillingness to work with the party led by Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Anwar said that PH coalition leaders will be going over the matter further. 

“We consider the opinions expressed by all parties, but we (PH) must discuss in detail the implications (of Muda joining PH),” he said, adding that any party who wishes to join the coalition must accept PH’s main principles. 

He also said that he had given Muda his assurance that PH will properly deliberate on the matter, especially as there have been “various views” expressed on Muda’s bid to join PH.

On seat negotiations Anwar said that, if Muda were to join the coalition, by convention PH would let seats already won by its member parties remain with that party.

On Tuesday, Muda had announced its intention to join the PH coalition while dismissing any cooperation with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s newly established Gerakan Tanah Air coalition.

Earlier today, PKR Youth chief Adam Adli Abdul Halim told The Malaysian Insight that Muda’s actions during the Johor polls in March – where it had gone against PKR for the Larkin seat – were still fresh in the minds of PKR members.

PKR Youth strategy director Bryan Ng Yih Miin also expressed to the news portal his reservations with Muda, citing the Larkin incident as being a “core reason” for his wariness towards the party. – The Vibes, September 11, 2022