THE Agong was left with no choice but to accept Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s request to dissolve the Dewan Rakyat. 

Comptroller of the Royal Household Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said while the King, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah was disappointed with the current political scenario, his majesty felt that the mandate should be returned to the people. 

“After meeting the prime minister yesterday afternoon and after looking into the request made by Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the King with powers stipulated under the Federal Constitution gave his royal assent to dissolve the parliament.” 

“The Yang di-Pertuan Agong made himself clear that His Majesty is disappointed with the political scenario and has no other option to accept the request to allow the mandate to be returned to the people,” said the palace in a statement. 

The palace then said that the king has urged the Election Commission to conduct a general election as soon as possible, taking into account the monsoon season, which is said to occur in the middle of November. 

This afternoon, Ismail announced the dissolution of parliament to make way for the general election. 

He said the Agong has given his royal assent for the dissolution of the current parliament term, which was set to end in July. 

He said this in a special address broadcast live on television at 3pm. 

A general election must be held within 60 days after the dissolution of parliament. 

There are 222 parliamentary seats to be contested in the general election. 

Ismail took over the country’s leadership in August last year after Umno lawmakers withdrew support for Muhyiddin Yassin, who lasted only 17 months in office.

Muhyiddin took over after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government in February 2020. – October 10, 2022.