KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today confirmed that the Budget 2023 tabling has been brought forward to October 7, three weeks earlier than the originally scheduled date — October 28.

In a statement, the de facto law minister said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob used his authority under Rule 11(2) of the Dewan Rakyat’s Standing Order to fix the sitting earlier.

"The previous calendar started from October 26 to December 15, 2022 (31 days) for the Dewan Rakyat and from December 8 to 22, 2022 (nine days) for the Dewan Negara after being approved by the Cabinet.

"The proposed new calendar is from October 3 to November 29, 2022 for the Dewan Rakyat (32 days) and November 21 to December 7, 2022 (11 days) for the Dewan Negara, hastened by 23 days from the original calendar,” he said.

Wan Junaidi said that the change followed the need for the government to amend the calendar of the third meeting to enable the expedited tabling of Budget 2023.

"In addition, it is to enable the presentation of the Supplementary Supply Bill 2022 and the Fiscal Responsibility Bill to be presented once the Supply (Budget) Bill 2023 is approved in the Dewan Rakyat,” he added.

The upcoming Dewan Rakyat sitting was initially scheduled to take place between October 28 and December 15.

The current leadership has until September next year to call a general election, but Ismail Sabri is under increasing pressure to hold it sooner following fallouts among members of the ruling parties.

Umno specifically is pressing for polls to be held as early as possible, especially after Barisan Nasional’s landslide victories in state elections and with the Opposition still in disarray.