The rumours of a fresh general election have been doing the rounds in Malaysia after two members of Prime Minister (PM) Muhyiddin Yassin’s Malaysian United Indigenous Party (MUIP) claimed that the 15th General Election (GE15) is likely to take place in the coming months.
“The party president asked that preparations be done for GE15, which could be held either at the end of the year or early next year,” Johor’s deputy chief and MUIP committee member Mohammad Nasir Hashim said, as per a New Straits Times report. He added that the fresh election also depends on the COVID-19 situation in the country.
“The president wishes first to help the economy recover, especially the lives of the people, with a reduction of Covid-19 cases and 60 to 80% getting vaccinated. Based on previous reports, the authorities had targeted achieving herd immunity by October or November, and this is a key indicator of when GE15 can be held,” he said.
Echoing similar sentiments, another MUIP committee member, Datuk Osman Sapian, said the MUIP president mentioned the possibility of fresh elections during the party’s state-level online meeting on June 16. “The meeting, chaired by the party president, touched on many current issues, including GE15 and the Covid-19 pandemic. It (GE15) could be held in September or October. If you think about it, it makes sense as the nation's budget is usually tabled in the parliament in October. If the parliament does not convene, there won’t be any funds. So what is important here is to get the budget approved,” he said.
The Straits Times reported that during a meeting with the Johor Chapter of the MUIP, PM Muhyiddin had supposedly hinted that an election could be called by the end of the year once Malaysia reached a specific COVID-19 vaccination goal and the national economy begins to recover.
About the possible upcoming election, Osman added that “If GE15 is to take place at the end of the year, preparations have to begin now”, and this includes “mobilising the operation centres in the divisions.” He also mentioned that Muhyiddin indicated “all 56 state seats in Johor and 26 parliamentary seats” would participate in the upcoming election. Osman clarified that “The issue of division of seats or areas was raised, but it needs to be discussed in greater detail after this.”
Malaysia’s recent surge in COVID-19 cases forced the Yassin administration to announce a stringent two-week lockdown that began on June 1 and was later extended till June 28. The near-total lockdown has allowed only 17 essential economic sectors to operate with a strict work-from-home mandate. So far, more than 700,000 people have been infected in the country, and over 4,500 have died. Since January, the country has been in a state of national emergency and the opposition has blamed the Yassin administration for misusing the elongated crisis to consolidate political power in an otherwise volatile coalition.