PRIME Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the date of the next general election requires more detailed and careful consideration before any decision to dissolve the Parliament can be made.

According to Ismail, this was because the government’s priority is solving the numerous issues, the latest being the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal and the global economic slowdown projected next year.

Ismail said an election can be called if the two factors – current issues and economic uncertainty – are tackled and stabilised.

“We are concerned with the projected economic uncertainty next year, but the longer we wait, the more difficult the situation will be, so maybe we can have an election this year.

“However, if we say this year, there are just too many ongoing issues that need to be solved. That’s why it is quite a tough decision to make,” he said in Putrajaya last night.

Ismail said the mandate must be returned to the people to elect a new government.

“Yes, the people have to be given the chance to elect a new government as it has changed three times (in this parliamentary term).

“Some of them acknowledged it, some don’t, so it’s better to return the mandate to the people. Yet, we have so many issues that need to be resolved… in terms of economy, income, and employment.

“Even though, from January to now, we have provided 400,000 jobs to the people, the minimum wage of RM1,500 is still being disputed and may need to be increased because certain quarters said it’s inadequate.

“This is among the many issues that we need to address,” he said.

The five-year mandate of the current government will expire in July 2023 and an election must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat.

Ismail is the third prime minister appointed in this parliamentary term. Dr Mahathir Mohamad become the country’s seventh prime minister for 22 months under the Pakatan Harapan government before it lost power in February 2020.

He was replaced by Muhyiddin Yassin with his Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been four state elections since 2018 in Sabah, Malacca, Sarawak and Johor.

Barisan Nasional (BN) regained Malacca and Johor from Pakatan Harapan, each with a two-thirds majority, and formed a new state government in Sabah with Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).

Ismail, the Umno MP for Bera, said BN’s success in Malacca and Johor cannot be used as a guarantee of success for the coalition in the next national poll.

In Johor, he said BN’s landslide victory was probably made possible by the low voter turnout due to Covid-19 concerns, but the situation may differ during a general election.

“Some people may think that state elections are not so important, but at federal level it’s totally different.

“Amid their Covid concerns, the voters will come out and vote to make sure that their parties can form a new government.

“That is why I think BN’s success in Malacca and Johor cannot be used as a guarantee of success or support for us,” he said.

The prime minister said that all the five top Umno leaders, including himself, can make any suggestion, but the power to dissolve the Parliament belongs to the king.

The current Umno top five includes president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, deputy president Mohamad Hasan and the three vice-presidents: Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Mahdzir Khalid and Ismail.

Additionally, Ismail said the dissolution of Parliament needs to be discussed by the cabinet because BN formed the current government with Perikatan Nasional and Gabungan Parti Sarawak. – Bernama, August 21, 2022.