SNAP elections may occur within 60 days after the state of emergency ends, either on August 1 or earlier if the Covid-19 pandemic eases, said Ketereh MP Annuar Musa.

As such, Umno leaders must not be arrogant and ensure the party is on the winning side, instead of sowing disunity, the Umno lawmaker said.

“What’s most important for us as Umno members is to ensure Umno wins the general election, or, at least, that Umno is part of the winning team.

“As such, it is the responsibility of the ‘admirals’ to steer (the party) towards success, not towards destruction,” said the federal territories minister who is part of the pro-Perikatan Nasional (PN) faction within Umno.

Annuar was recently removed as Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general after appearing to be too conciliatory towards the PN government and Bersatu, which is Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s party.

He said today that Umno must not be duplicitous, alleging that party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was working together with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim to bring down the PN government.

Umno is supposed to decide whether or not to sever ties with Bersatu at its annual general assembly, originally scheduled for January 30 and 31. However, it has been postponed due to the second movement-control order.

Umno has been calling for general elections to take place as soon as the pandemic eases, as Muhyiddin now leads a minority govt with the support of 109 MPs against the Opposition’s 111. There are 222 seats in Parliament but two are vacant due to the deaths of the incumbents.

Elections, however, cannot be held during the current state of emergency, which the PN government obtained with the Yang Di Pertuan Agong’s approval, ostensibly to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The emergency is set to end on August 1, although an independent panel may advise the king to rescind the emergency earlier. – January 28, 2021.