Malaysia’s government said on Friday it would present its 2023 national budget on October 7, three weeks ahead of schedule, fueling speculation that it could call an early general election.
Election Not due until September next year, but Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yacoub has come under pressure to dissolve his United Malaysian National Organization party Parliament To vote early.
Law Minister Van Junaidy Tuanku Jaffer said in a statement that the budget would be presented on October 7 instead of October 28. He said that the last meeting of the Parliament of the year would be brought forward for this purpose.
Ismail Sabri told local media that the decision to present the budget early is not unusual and has been done before by other administrations.
“This is a strong indication of a possible early election,” said Oh E Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. “A large part of the population is still hard-pressed and is largely dependent on government handouts to contain them. Therefore, liberal budgetary announcements are generally seen as a way to garner electoral support in the short term.
Elections must be called within 60 days of the dissolution of Parliament. If it is called this year, it is likely to be before the end of November to avoid the end of the year monsoon season.
The government’s announcement came ahead of a special UMNO meeting convened on Saturday by party president Ahmed Zahid Hamidi to discuss its election preparations and other current issues.
After the former prime minister, the demand for early elections from UMNO intensified Najib Razaki 1MDB lost its final appeal on Tuesday in a corruption case involving massive loot of state funds and immediately began a 12-year prison term.
Najeeb remains influential in the party despite his sentence and is facing four other cases involving 1MDB. He and Ahmed Zahid, who also faces corruption charges, have called for a return of support among ethnic Malays for the party and an early election to capitalize on the opposition in disarray. Some accused the two of trying to expedite the election in search of a favorable outcome for their trials, which both denied.
UMNO had ruled Malaysia since the country’s independence. Britain in 1957, but was ousted in the 2018 general elections amid public anger over the 1MDB scam. It returned to power after the reformist government that won the 2018 elections fell due to defection.
Although the current prime minister is from UMNO, he relies on the support of allied Malay parties. UMNO, which has said it will not work with its allies in the current coalition government in the upcoming elections, is aiming for a big win, so it will not face any other party.