KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — Several federal lawmakers believe the 15th general election, due only next year, will be called very soon, Utusan Malaysia reported today.
The Umno-linked Malay daily cited unnamed MPs from Sabah-based Parti Warisan claiming to have received a notice from the Parliament Office to update their personal information, which they said only happens in an election year.
"The Parliament Office does not ask for updates every year, only when the dissolution of Parliament is near. Before this, we received emails and soon after that Parliament was dissolved," one of the anonymous sources was quoted saying.
Utusan Malaysia reported the sources saying they received a similar email in 2018 and that Parliament was dissolved a month after that.
Malaysia held its 14th general election on May 9, 2018, which saw the Pakatan Harapan coalition take federal power.
However, former minister in charge of law and parliamentary affairs Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz rejected the claims that the request for MPs to update their particulars was a signal that a national election is coming soon.
"No, we are just returning parliamentary freedom. Nothing to do with the dissolution of Parliament," the Padang Rengas MP from Umno told the newspaper.
DAP's Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin similarly downplayed a link between the parliamentary email and impending elections.
Chan was quoted describing the procedure as routine as such emails are sent out when a full parliamentary term will be completed.
But the DAP lawmaker also said that anything is possible at this point in time.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been keeping his cards close to his chest on when the next election will be called despite increasing pressure from certain parties, including Umno, of which he is the vice-president.
Yesterday, he told reporters here that his authority as prime minister is only to advise the King on when to dissolve Parliament as in the end, it is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong who has the sole discretion to make the decision.
