Best time for snap polls?

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Best time for snap polls? Year end, or latest early next year, Umno No. 2 tells Perikatan

Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan greets voters at a polling centre in Rantau April 13, 2019. ― Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri 

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan feels that the best time for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to dissolve Parliament and call for snap polls is either end of the year or latest, early next year.

In an interview with Malaysia Post, Mohamad said that currently the “mood” among electorates is very positive towards the PN government, and the leadership of Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic here.

“We must remember that the condition of the country’s economy is in very bad shape, not because the government is not able to manage it well, but it is the same globally, owing to Covid-19, with many losing their jobs, with almost 70,000 having been rendered unemployed.

“I am afraid that by the end of the moratorium period, many more would have lost their jobs, companies would shutter and homes are repossessed because they won’t be able to pay.

“So it is better (to dissolve Parliament) when the government has great support, and the PN government’s rating is high. That is my view,” the former Negri Sembilan mentri besar was quoted as saying.

He added that PN must seize the opportunity to hold elections quickly, especially when Pakatan Harapan (PH) is still embroiled in an internal crisis over its prime minister candidate.

Mohamad had previously made the same call during a “live” Facebook talk, stressing that Malaysia should go to the polls soon.

The Rantau assemblyman said the PN government — of which Umno is a partner — is in a very fragile state due to its slim majority in Parliament, adding that because of this, the alliance is “under constant threat”.

He added that Muhyiddin’s popularity rating as prime minister is currently high but won’t last long, given the government’s position now.

At about the same time as Mohamad’s talk on Facebook, Muhyiddin released a statement on his own Facebook page expressing confidence that he holds the majority political support in the country, amid the Opposition’s attempts for an ouster.

The Bersatu president said the heads of 12 political parties attended a meeting in Putrajaya that same day and expressed support for his informal PN alliance.

Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, who is currently party-less, was listed as present at the meeting as the PN chief whip alongside Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin as Bersatu secretary-general.