KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Malaysia’s 14th general elections (GE14) will likely be held in March or April next year as the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition will seek to ride on the financial feel-good factor then, local observers have suggested.

Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that the elections were unlikely to be held by the end of this year, owing to factors such as the monsoon season, and the SPM and STPM examinations that are held from November 6 onwards.

Universiti Utara Malaysia’s Ahmad Martadha Mohamed also believed that elections would not be held during the last two months this year, as the economic goodies expected in the government’s Budget 2018 to be tabled on October 27 would only kick in next year.

“But the civil servant bonuses and such won’t come through until at least January. So that’s one reason he won’t call elections until at least February,” he was quoted saying, referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

SCMP said the government’s federal budget would likely have incentives aimed towards the rural Malay community, civil servants and the youth.

It also suggested next February will likely be a season with positive economic figures for the country, including the announcement of the Employees’ Provident Fund’s dividend and Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product numbers for the fourth quarter of this year.

Ahmad reportedly said BN politicians will try to use the celebrations for the Chinese New Year — from February 16 to March 2 — to engage with voters from the ethnic Chinese community “who can make or break this election”.

DAP lawmaker Zairil Khir Johari was reported saying that the prime minister will hope to capitalise on the positive sentiments in the financial markets during Chinese New Year, also suggesting that the government would not want to hold the polls after Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s jail release.

Anwar may qualify for early release next April or May but will not be able to contest in polls, with SCMP saying however that the government is expected to want to avoid going into polls facing the opposition politician’s charm.

The 14th general elections must be held by August 24 next year, but may also be called earlier.