KUALA LUMPUR (BLOOMBERG) - Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has cautioned against usurping the King's authority, as pressure mounts within his party for him to call for a general election soon.

Datuk Seri Ismail told reporters on Thursday (March 17) that Parliament's dissolution - a precursor to a nationwide vote - was under the King's authority and must be discussed with the monarch first.

"If we determine our own date, the King would say we took over his power," he said when met at the party headquarters. "We will wait."

Mr Ismail added that his party had yet to discuss the matter internally.

Buoyed by landslide wins in recent state elections, leaders in Mr Ismail's ruling Umno party have called on the government to bring forward the general election that is due in July next year.

The party's annual general assembly, which began on Wednesday night and runs until Saturday, was dominated by debates on the nationwide vote.

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan in his policy speech on Wednesday said that "the time is now and not next year" to hold the general election. Any delays would allow the opposition to grow stronger, he added.

The call came just four days after the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) secured a two-thirds majority at the Johor state legislative election last Saturday amid a low voter turnout.

Umno leaders - especially the camp led by party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi - believe that a snap election would result in BN returning to federal power with an outright majority.

This would be a quick turnaround of fortunes for the party that lost federal power for the first time at the 2018 election on the back of scandals plaguing an administration led by former prime minister Najib Razak, Zahid's ally in the party.