All abuzz over GE15

Missed timing? Some people feel that Umno should have acted decisively to call for an election after Barisan’s big victory in the Johor state polls in March this year. — THOMAS YONG/The Star

THERE is an angry buzz from the Umno faction that wants the 15th General Election (GE15) to be held as soon as possible. They suspect Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will only call it next year.

The mood has changed compared with last week, when word was that GE15 was on and that it would happen in September or October this year. In fact, Umno contacts close to the leaders were claiming there would be polls in the next few weeks.

But now, the murmur is that it won’t be so soon.

We are getting indications that the Prime Minister is not ready for a quick election. Among the reasons is that voters are angry over the littoral combat ship (LCS) controversy.

However, proponents of a quick election argue that if GE15 is delayed, Umno would go into it when the country’s economy might be worse. The best time for the party is now.

During the Umno general assembly in March this year, the Prime Minister, who is one of the party’s vice presidents, promised he wouldn’t delay calling for GE15 “for even a second”. Last Sunday, at the Wanita Barisan Nasional convention, Ismail Sabri said he would get the King’s consent to dissolve Parliament if a survey by the coalition’s women’s wing showed that voters favour Barisan now.

Those in favour of a snap poll insist that Barisan is ready.

For example, on Friday, Barisan’s election director Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, also an Umno deputy president, stated that the coalition – consisting of Umno, MCA, MIC and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah – is prepared to face GE15 now.

Those in Umno who are eager to get going with elections are growing impatient. They think it is now or never to dissolve Parliament, as the party can’t afford to wait any longer.

On Friday, I kept receiving messages from contacts about when the next Umno supreme council meeting would be held. They had been hearing that there will be a meeting to suspend Umno leaders who are in the way of the dissolution of Parliament in the next few weeks.

But an Umno insider explained that Umno leaders like party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak have run out of time and options.

“Those who are in control of the options have the power,” he said.

The insider said they should have acted decisively after Barisan’s big victory in the Johor state elections in March this year.

“It was the best time to push for GE15. They had the momen-tum as the party had won the Melaka (in November 2021) and Johor polls convincingly.

“But they did not act decisively. Now it might be too late for them,” he said.

When the Registrar of Societies approved Umno’s Constitutional amendment effective on July 29 to hold party polls within six months after the country’s general elections, it meant that those Umno leaders who want GE15 ASAP will remain in power until after the national polls.

“It gave the impression that they had power regarding party matters like selecting candidates or sacking disobedient party leaders.

“But if, just say, Umno decides to pull out of the Ismail Sabri government, they might face a backlash as Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional MPs might support the Prime Minister,” the Umno insider said.

“Whenever the Umno faction [that wants GE15 soonest] put pressure on for an early election, like forcing and winning the Melaka or Johor state elections, you’d think they won a mile in the tug of war to call for polls. But actually, they only won an inch. Meaning that those who don’t want a quick election have not lost the tug of war yet, it is still ongoing.”

There’s now talk of Plan B. The Umno faction that wants snap polls wants to draw a line in the sand.

“An Umno supreme council meeting might decide on setting a date for bubar (dissolution), and if bubar doesn’t happen, then the party will take action against whoever is not pushing for it to happen,” an Umno leader told me.

The feeling in Umno is rather raw with Najib – still one of their most popular figures – not getting his way in his Federal Court appeal against a 12-year jail sentence linked to the 1MDB financial controversy. Rightly or wrongly, the “Bossku” (as Najib is called) supporters in Umno are blaming party leaders who are in government for not helping the former prime minister.

The Umno hornet nest has been stirred. Will the wasps sting? Or are they kelulut (stingless bee)?