TANGKAK – Perikatan Nasional (PN) has recommended that Parliament be dissolved next year to allow the 15th general election (GE15) to be held when the flood situation has recovered.
Its chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said PN was also taking a firm stance that GE15 should not be held soon because at the moment there were more important matters at hand.
“Let’s say if the situation has eased after March 2023… and things are back to normal, we can hold the election.
“When the floods are over, dissolve Parliament either in April, May, or June, isn’t that ideal?” he told reporters after the Pagoh Bersatu Convention at Dewan Geliga, Gersik, here today.
Muhyidin, who is Bersatu president, said that, constitutionally, general elections must be held every five years but the last election term has not yet ended and there are still a few months to go.
“The second thing is the issue of floods, everyone knows about the yearly floods and of late, the flood situation has worsened causing massive damage to property and loss of lives. We can’t ignore that,” he said.
The former prime minister also said that if GE15 is held this year, some states have refused to dissolve their state legislative assemblies and this would result in the Electoral Commission having to spend an additional RM2 billion to hold state polls at a different time.
The Pagoh MP said this when asked to comment on the GE15 date following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s meeting with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Thursday. – Bernama, October 8, 2022
