Amid a flurry of speculation over the past number of weeks, it has now finally been confirmed just moments ago by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri during a live media conference that the 14th Parliament has officially been dissolved. This comes after he was granted an audience with His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Thursday (October 6th, 2022), ahead of the second reading of Budget 2023 on Friday by the Ministry of Finance.
“As per Article 40(2)(b) and Article 55(2) of the Federal Constitution, His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong, has acted in accordance with His Majesty’s discretion to approve my request, so that the 14th Parliament would be dissolved today, Monday October 10th, 2022,”
During his speech, he also extended his heartfelt gratitude to all Malaysians for working alongside the government in overcoming the challenges besetting the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parliament has been dissolved, says Sabri
Initially, Sabri had kept mum regarding the details of his recent audiences with His Majesty, but he did indicate that he was planning to propose a date for the dissolution of Parliament, which will then pave way for snap elections to take place. The current Parliament term was initially supposed to end in July of 2023 reports Singaporean paper The Straits Times, with The 15th General Election slated to commence in September of the same year shortly after.
With the dissolution of Parliament, this will mean that Malaysia will be on the cusp of hosting its 15th General Elections ahead of schedule. According to Reuters, it is believed that the Prime Minister’s decision to call for snap elections was attributed to the mounting pressures he has faced from within UMNO for a stronger mandate, alongside infighting between different factions within the party itself.
Further details concerning the upcoming General Election will be subject to the decision of the Election Commission of Malaysia (SPR). However, he notes that the General Election will be likely held at a later date, pending the dissolution of some DUNs.
A new budget may need to be tabled
This will also likely mean that Budget 2023 will need to be re-tabled after the 15th General Elections have concluded, repots Malaysiakini. This was similarly done back in October 1999, when Budget 2000 was announced.
At the time, Parliament was dissolved on November 11th, 1999 before General Elections took place on November 29th, 1999. Budget 2000 was then re-tabled on February 25th, 2000.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri took office in August 2021, after former Perikatan Nasional Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned upon losing majority support in government. Prior to this, he had served as Muhyiddin’s Deputy Prime Minister, while also holding the Ministry of Defence portfolio before being replaced by Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Hussein Senior Minister of Malaysia (security cluster). He is the third Prime Minister to have been sworn into office within the last five years.
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