PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has hinted that the 15th General Election could take place after Budget 2022 has been tabled, former Johor chief minister Osman Sapian said, as political uncertainty in the country grows amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Sinar Harian newspaper reported that the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) lawmaker said he was given this impression by Mr Muhyiddin, also of Bersatu, during a virtual party meeting on June 16.
Mr Osman said GE15 would likely take place when the national Budget 2022 is completed at the federal and state levels.
"If the Budget has been passed and announced at the federal level, we will have to look at the states. Otherwise, we will have to wait for the states first. Most likely, the general election will be held at the end of this year, either in November or December," he said on Monday (June 21).
"After all, nothing is impossible because there was a general election before this that was called after the Budget was announced.
However, Mr Osman said that GE15 could also be postponed to early next year due to the year-end monsoon season.
He added that GE15 will be called when new Covid-19 case numbers go down as per targets, along with 60 to 80 per cent of the population receiving their vaccinations.
The Kempas assemblyman said that various issues were touched upon during the online meeting chaired by Mr Muhyiddin as the party president, including assistance to the people and measures to address the spread of Covid-19
Mr Osman said both Bersatu and the Perikatan Nasional coalition have been instructed to gear up and prepare election materials to be distributed to the various divisions.
"The party is ready at any time to face the general election. The preparation is for us to further strengthen our work and improve. The preparations range from the operations room to basic training and seminars like what's going to be given to some division chiefs who are still new," he added.
While calls for an election have increased since the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government last year, holding one amid the Covid-19 pandemic that has ravaged Malaysia may not be a popular decision among lawmakers.
Earlier this month, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed, who sparked the PH government's collapse when he resigned last year, said the topic of national polls were raised in his meeting with Malaysia's king Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah.
"Elections (during the pandemic) would be very dangerous, we have seen what happened in Sabah where you have an election and there will be a spike again, that's what I told him," Dr Mahathir, who is MP for Langkawi, told reporters.
"When we achieve herd immunity, when we have given vaccines to 80 per cent of the country, at that stage perhaps we are quite safe."
