KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — Umno veteran Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has joined calls for a snap election soon, claiming that the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration is still unstable and has the potential to lead the country down to a bigger problem.

In an article by Malay daily Utusan Malaysia, it was reported that the Gua Musang MP had observed that the economic slowdown stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic has also led to massive unemployment and a spike in crime.

“I think it’s best we return the mandate to the people because the current government is not that strong, it’s unstable and it’s still weak. 

“We need to attract more investors because unemployment is increasing,” he reportedly told reporters in Gua Musang yesterday.

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Tengku Razaleigh said there is nearly a million people left unemployed and by early October, the numbers could be more than two million.

“So, are we going to wait until things become worse before holding an election? That’s the big question,” he asked.

Yesterday, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan was quoted saying he 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.

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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.

Muhyiddin is said to be eyeing an early general election in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic in order to secure his personal mandate and dispel views that his coalition came to power via the “backdoor”.

Earlier this month, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali also said PN may call for snap polls as early as this year or 2021.