JOHOR BARU, Sept 26 — A Johor PKR parliamentarian today asked the state’s Umno leaders if they were prepared to toe the party line over calling for snap elections soon following yesterday’s flash flooding in several areas.
Johor Baru MP Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir singled out Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, who is also Pontian MP, and party vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, to state their positions on their party’s push for national polls, as both represent the people of Johor, many of whom spent the night in flood relief centres.
He said this also took into account Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s earlier statement that any decision on the dissolution of Parliament would depend on the outcome of discussions by Umno’s top leadership on September 30.
“So, will Mohamed Khaled and Ahmad state their stand openly to postpone their party president’s intention to hold the general election by this year?” said Akmal in a statement today.
He was questioning the rationale behind Umno’s insistence on holding the 15th general election (GE15) during the annual monsoonal floods.
Akmal, who is also PKR’s strategy director, said the early morning downpour, which resulted in flash floods in 10 areas, had taken Johor Baru residents by surprise.
“While the Johor Baru district includes five parliamentary constituencies (Johor Baru, Pulai, Iskandar Puteri, Pasir Gudang and Tebrau), flooding also occurred in the Pontian and Muar districts which caused some victims to be moved to the Temporary Relief Centres (PPS).
“I understand that residents in six villages around Kayu Ara Pasong in Pontian reported that yesterday’s flash floods were one of the worst that they have experienced in the past 30 years,” he said.
Akmal said although the Malaysian Meteorological Department expects the transitional phase of the monsoon to occur only in October and the North East Monsoon in November, events, such as yesterday’s flash flood, showed that Johor and the entire country must better prepare for the possibility of natural disasters or unforeseen circumstances at year end.
Umno has been agitating for an early general election within the year, with speculation that this could be in November as Budget 2023 has yet to be tabled.
The rumours gained traction after Ismail Sabri announced that the tabling of the federal spending plan would be brought forward by three weeks to October 7, with speculation that Parliament would be dissolved immediately or soon after.
Opposition parties including Pakatan Harapan (PH) have said they were against holding the GE15 in November, saying the predicted heavy rains and floods would make conditions treacherous for Malaysians.
Last year, Malaysia suffered one of its worst floods on record, causing an estimated RM6.5 billion in property damage and displacing over 71,000 people.
The floods were particularly severe in Selangor, the country’s most industrialised state, where nearly half of the 54 flood-related deaths occurred.
