PETALING JAYA: Regardless of when the 15th General Election will be held, the election war drums have been sounded as various parties across the political divide are ramping up preparations for the national polls.
As the current Parliamentary term has entered its fifth year, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the party is even more prepared for the national polls if it’s called sooner than expected.
“Once GE15 is called, it’s just a matter of ‘switching gears’ for Umno and preparing the machinery at various levels,” said Mohamad.
This means that all of Umno’s 22,000 branches across the country will be activated, said Mohamad.
“Practically at every kampung, we have branches, where our grassroots are already well established,” the Rantau assemblyman added.
Mohamad, who is Umno election director, also said he will visit its branches across the country at the end of this month, to check on their “state of preparedness”.
“At the same time, we will also advise them to start their operations room.
“I would say, even within six months (of GE15 being called), we must start our machinery now,” added Mohamad.
For Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), its secretary-general Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said the state-based coalition is always prepared for the polls, given the endless political manoeuvring in Kuala Lumpur over the past two years.
“The percentage of preparedness has become irrelevant. We should assume the election is tomorrow,” said Masidi, who’s Sabah Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) deputy chief.
GRS consists of Sabah Bersatu, Sabah STAR, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), Usno and PBS.
“We only need to finalise the list of candidates,” added Masidi.
Masidi said the national political landscape has changed since Pakatan Harapan’s fall in February 2020 after 22 months in Putrajaya.
Noting the political instability that ensued after the end of Pakatan’s administration, Masidi said many voters have become politically fatigued and this sentiment affected voter turnout.
“There could be lower turnout of voters than in previous elections,” added Masidi.
Voter turnout has gradually decreased in several state election held.
The Sabah state election in September 2020 saw a 66.61% voter turnout, followed by the Melaka state election last November, with just 65.85%.
The downward trend in turnout continued in the Sarawak state election last December with only 60.67% coming out to vote, dropping to only 54.92% in Johor’s last March.
Meanwhile, Pahang Perikatan Nasional state executive secretary Hafeez Yunus also said the coalition has given instructions to all its grassroots to prepare its district voting centres and party branches for GE15.
“There are also various forms of training which includes IT, social media, data entry of polling results, and many other things,” said Hafeez.
Hafeez also said Perikatan’s training bureau is assisting its electoral research bureau, to give the necessary training to its election machinery.
Hafeez said GE15 preparations have been an ongoing process and Perikatan top leaders will soon go on a national tour to meet party grassroots across the country.
Pakatan Harapan communications chief Fahmi Fadzil said it is difficult to specify the level of preparedness of the coalition, which consists of PKR, DAP, Upko and Parti Amanah Negara.
“Various parties are at various stages of readiness, so it’s difficult to give a percentage,” the Lembah Pantai MP added.
However, Fahmi indicated that Pakatan has several issues including candidates and the manifesto that needed to be ironed out ahead of GE15.
DAP’s election preparation committee secretary Wong May Ing said in a statement last Friday that the party has set up election preparation committee directors in every state.
Speculation of an early GE15 has been rife following calls by top Umno leaders in the Barisan Nasional convention earlier this month. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has remained coy about the dates of GE15.
On June 5, the Bera MP stated that the ultimate decision to dissolve Parliament lies with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.