THE government’s decision to dissolve parliament weeks after tabling the budget in 1999 was not the same as what happened this time around, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

The Langkawi incumbent said caretaker Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob intentionally dissolved parliament for an election during flood season so that they can benefit from the situation.

Citing uncertainty over the weather condition towards the end of the year, Dr Mahathir said that it was a tactical move to prevent a large number of voters from turning up.

“The problem is that we don’t know what will happen in November. According to some predictions, there will be a lot of strong winds and floods. So, this will hamper the voting process,” Dr Mahathir said at a press conference in Putrajaya today.

“As a result, the voter turnout will be low.

“I suspect that the Umno government wants to make sure that as few people as possible turn out to vote but they will have their own people paid and transported to vote,” he added.

Dr Mahathir said they will try their best to campaign and ensure voters come out in numbers to cast their ballots in the upcoming polls.

The nonagenarian also said that although he decided to dissolve parliament in 1999, there were no such issues with weather preventing voters from casting their ballots.

“The situation then was not like now. The government and the opposition were in good shape and there was a good fight.

“There were no floods, strong winds or nothing to stop people from coming out in big numbers (to vote),” he said.

On November 11, 1999, Dr Mahathir, who was then prime minister, dissolved parliament and called for a snap election three days after Deepavali, setting the ball rolling for Malaysia’s 10th general election.

Besides this, Dr Mahathir also accused the government of tapping into Budget 2023 funds despite dissolving parliament.

“They dissolved parliament immediately after tabling the budget and they are already spending money from the budget, which is wrong.

“When you are an interim government, you can’t spend money although you have made provisions in the budget.

“You should not do it. You should wait until you win (the election) before spending it,” he said.

Ismail dissolved parliament just three days after Budget 2023 was tabled, paving the way for polls.

The Election Commission is expected to announce the relevant dates tomorrow. – October 19, 2022.