BARISAN Nasional (BN) advisory board chairman Najib Razak said BN would have to take risks if it continues to delay the dissolution of Parliament.

The former prime minister said he had gone through a similar experience before which led to declining support for BN and eventually its first ever defeat, in the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018.

He does not want the same fate to befall BN in GE15 as the current government’s tenure will expire next year. BN consists of Umno, MCA, MIC and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS).

“When will GE15 be held? I am not sure but I want to share this for the first time. I want to confess that we should have held GE14 after the 2017 SEA Games and maybe BN might have won big but we delayed and when we deferred, the situation changed,” he said.

He said this in his speech at the BN convention held in conjunction with the 48th anniversary celebration of the coalition in Kuala Lumpur today. Also present were Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, BN deputy chairman Mohamad Hasan and leaders of other component parties.

On the date for GE15, Najib, who is Pekan Member of Parliament, hoped the Umno’s ‘top five’ would discuss the matter and help the prime minister decide on the right time for dissolving Parliament to pave the way for polls because the risks are too high.

The top five refer to Umno president Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, deputy president Mohamad Hasan and vice-presidents Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Mahdzir Khalid and Ismail Sabri. – Bernama, June 1, 2022.