Will Malaysia’s Umno wash out its chances of victory if it holds a snap election?
- PM Ismail Sabri is under pressure from his party to call a snap election even as the coming monsoon season threatens damaging floods
- Critics have pointed to Malaysia’s inability to deal with climate change, with public anger over last December’s waist-deep floods remaining fresh
Ismail Sabri, who was named the nation’s ninth leader just over a year ago, is in the precarious position of being the first prime minister who is not the head of a political party – leaving him vulnerable to pressure from the upper echelons of his Umno party, who have been clamouring for early polls.
Following its shock loss in 2018, the party says it is confident it has regained support to return to power. Top party leaders are also facing corruption charges that critics say could go away if Umno is once again at the helm.
Party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has since March made it clear that an election should be called this year rather than in 2023, when the parliamentary term expires, even though Ismail Sabri has stressed that his priorities are to stem surging inflation and help the Covid-hit economy recover.
The prime minister last month told party leaders that polls “will not be held in 2023”, but stopped short at committing to a specific time.
“Any decision will be made by Umno’s ‘top five’ … that meeting might be ahead of the date of the budget,” Ismail Sabri told reporters on Tuesday. The budget is set to be introduced on October 7.
But all the plans may come to naught if nature has any say in it.