Malaysia’s United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party, which forms the largest component of the ruling coalition, has agreed to hold a general election this year, its top decision-making body said. Elections are not due until September 2023, but several UMNO lawmakers have called on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to hold early elections for a stronger mandate and because of the infighting.
However, Ismail’s coalition is not united on the timing of the elections. Many lawmakers from his own party, UMNO, and other alliance partners cited economic hardships such as the rising cost of living, as well as the end-of-year monsoon season and subsequent flooding, as polling stations were not held this year. UMNO’s supreme council has agreed that parliament should be dissolved in the near future so that elections can be held this year, party secretary-general Ahmad Maslan said in a statement on Friday.
The prime minister will submit the proposed dissolution date to Malaysia’s King Al-Sultan Abdullah, he said. He did not say when the prime minister would meet the monarch. Elections must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of parliament. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy and the King usually acts on the advice of the Prime Minister. But the king has certain powers, including not consenting to the dissolution of parliament.
Malaysia has been dealing with political uncertainty since 2018, when former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad led an opposition coalition to an electoral victory over UMNO, which had ruled the country through a stable coalition for more than six decades. Since then, two governments have collapsed, including Mahathir’s. Ismail became Malaysia’s third prime minister in two years last August.
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