THE Umno Supreme Council yesterday discussed the possibility of a snap election, said Annuar Musa.

He said the discussion did not go into specifics. 

“We merely discussed the possibility of snap election in general. But it’s not an issue yet and just speculation. As such, we didn’t talk about seat allocation,” said the Federal Territories minister yesterday at the Putra World Trade Centre.

Annuar, who is the Ketereh MP, said the party leadership also did not discuss Bersatu’s bid to join Muafakat Nasional or register Perikatan Nasional.

Umno advisory board chairman Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah attended yesterday’s meeting.

Talk of a snap election has gained traction in recent weeks as speculation mounts over Perikatan Nasional’s numbers in parliament and a counter-coup by Pakatan Harapan.

Since the change of government in February, PH has been gearing up to face off Perikatan Nasional in possible snap polls.

The Perikatan Nasional government is made up of 115 MPs from Barisan Nasional (43), Bersatu (33), PAS (18), GPS (18) and in Sabah (4).

The opposition has 107 MPs from DAP (42), PKR (37), Amanah (11), Warisan (9), Upko (1) and nine independents.

PKR’s Lubok Antu MP recently quit the party to declare support for Muhyiddin Yassin’s government

Meanwhile, Umno Youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the party wing was preparing for early elections as Pakatan Harapan was “playing up the instability of the government.”

Asyraf said it was hoped that polls would not be called before the end of the year.

“We cannot avoid elections. But we hope that they will be held after the Covid-19 threat is over,” he said after yesterday’s meeting. – June 17, 2020.