PETALING JAYA: Cabinet ministers are still split on the decision of whether to hold the 15th General Election (GE15) this year.
While a number of Umno ministers were keen for the polls to be held immediately, other ministers, mostly from Perikatan Nasional, had opposed the proposal in favour of focusing on current economic issues and flood disaster management for the upcoming monsoon season, reported Utusan Malaysia.
An unnamed minister also reportedly told the national daily that many of his counterparts were also against the idea of the dissolution of Parliament before Budget 2023 was to be presented on Oct 7.
The same minister noted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had stated his intention to consider the views of all Cabinet members before deciding when to dissolve the Dewan Rakyat.
PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man was quoted saying that the date of GE15 was still left undecided, saying that only the country's economic recovery and flood preparation measures were discussed during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (Sept 21).
Umno's Ketereh MP Tan Sri Annuar Musa also similarly said that only flood preparation matters were discussed during the meeting.
Ismail Sabri had previously said that the GE15 dates would be discussed in the Cabinet meeting during the launching of the National Energy Policy 2022-2040 on Monday (Sept 19).
Ismail Sabri’s Cabinet currently consists of 11 ministers from Umno, nine from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, four from Gabungan Parti Sarawak, three from PAS and one minister each respectively from MCA, MIC, Parti Bersatu Sabah and Parti Bangsa Malaysia.
GE15 must be held no later than mid-September 2023, which is within 60 days after the current parliamentary term is automatically dissolved on July 16, 2023.
