PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has urged Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) election workers to prepare for an early general election within a year.
Ismail, who is an Umno vice-president, did not rule out the possibility of the next general election being held before July next year and urged party election workers not to wait until the last minute.
He said Parliament’s term would end in July 2023 which is only about a year from now. “A year is not a long time for political parties to face elections,” he said, according to Harian Metro.
He said he had asked that the Umno and BN election machinery in his constituency of Bera to be always ready “as the election may be held earlier than the end of the term”.
Ismail said early preparations were necessary to avoid chaos in facing the general election.
Last Thursday, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad suggested that the appropriate time for elections was to hold it after the parliamentary term ends.
The term of the 14th Parliament ends on July 15, 2023, five years after it was called into session. By law, a general election must be held within 60 days of Parliament being prorogued, or mid-September 2023 at the latest if the government does not ask for a dissolution earlier.
MCA’s priority is victory for BN, says Wee
MCA president Wee Ka Siong said in Johor that the party’s priority was to ensure victory for every BN candidate at the elections.
He said all the seats contested by BN were important in forming the federal government, even if not represented by MCA candidates.
“We are not looking at a BN victory in a particular seat, because what is more meaningful is an absolute victory for BN. This is a collective action of the three major parties namely Umno, MCA and MIC,” he told reporters after chairing a Johor MCA leadership meeting.-BERNAMA