NAJIB Razak’s advisers are pushing for early general elections, possibly in late October or early November, as further delays could risk a “perfect storm” against Barisan National (BN), The Straits Times said.

The prime minister’s inner circle is said to be in favour of early polls to ride on Malaysia’s relatively stable outlook and problems in the opposition alliance, Pakatan Harapan (PH).

The 14th General Election must be called by August 2018, but sitting out a full term would give the opposition time to regroup under Najib’s nemesis, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who leads the new party, Bersatu, that is now part of the PH coalition.

PH recently announced its leadership line-up but has not explicitly stated its candidate for prime minister, and is still facing problems in forging a cohesive partnership in the opposition-controlled state of Selangor.

Holding the polls later would also allow a disgruntled public to ramp up their complaints over the rising cost of living and turn sentiment against the Umno-led BN, the paper said in an opinion piece, citing close associates of the prime minister.

The run-up to early polls would see “big public-relations splashes in the weeks ahead”, with the launching of major economic initiatives, among them the RM55 billion East Coast Rail Link on August 9. This would be Malaysia’s largest infrastructure project built and financed by China.

Also expected are “windfalls” in key seats, in particular, the semi-urban and rural parliamentary seats that form the vote bank for the ruling BN.

Najib is expected to announce a slew of people-pleasing initiatives in the national budget, which is usually tabled in the second half of October, The Straits Times said.

Already, his recent schedule shows he has been actively working the ground in Umno, meeting party leaders in closed-door retreats, and with government officials. Recently, Najib announced incentives totalling RM1.588 billion in direct cash and debt forgiveness to placate Felda settlers, who have been up in arms over heavy debts as a result of loans to buy shares in Felda Global Ventures and other schemes by the state-owned plantation group. – July 28, 2017.