SEVENTY-TWO hours have lapsed since last Friday’s (Aug 26) Cabinet decision to carry forward Budget 2023’s tabling by three weeks to Oct 7 from Oct 23 yet neither Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob nor Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz have come forward to explain if this has to do with an early general election.
Given that the 15th General Election (GE15) must be held only on or before Sept 16 next year (with the Parliament to be dissolved only by June 2023), it is quite understandable why the PM responded with two words – “Wait, wait” (not in a hurry) – when quizzed when he intends to dissolve Parliament to make way for GE15.
In fact, Ismail Sabri’s deafening silence with regard to reasons behind the change-of-date can mean that the “date tweaking’ is after all a tactical exercise in anticipation of the UMNO president’s special briefing that was scheduled the following day (Saturday, Aug 27).
“Rather than kowtowing to UMNO’s demand for the 15th General Election (GE15) to be held promptly, Ismail Sabri could have mooted the date change as a merely a signal that election is round the corner without having to officially announced it,” a political strategist told FocusM on condition of anonymity.
“This witty move will enable him to thwart mounting pressure from UMNO warlords who are demanding that GE15 is held soonest to save their skin while figuring out how best to execute policies that he has in mind.”
Recall that Ismail Sabri who is also UMNO’s vice-president was absent during the party president’s special briefing which was called following ex-premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s imprisonment for the SRC International Sdn Bhd case on Aug 23.
While he was in Bera for constituency matters and events, the briefing attracted some 3,000 members while also featuring Najib’s daughter Noryanna Najwa Najib and son Datuk Mohd Nizar Najib and legal counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah who gave speeches to delegates.
However, Ismail Sabri was present at the Supreme Council meeting chaired by Zahid on the later part of the evening (8.30pm–11.15pm). No statement had been issued to-date on what transpired during the meeting.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has described the decision to bring forward Budget 2023 as a sign that the PM is under immense pressure from UMNO.
While moving the tabling date forward by three weeks was not an unusual practice, the PKR president said it has become an open secret that Ismail Sabri is facing strong pressure from the UMNO leadership.
Anwar further contended that it has been a practice for the past two years that the Government would consult Pakatan Harapan (PH) on several key issues such as taxation, expenses, transparency and accountability.
“This has not started and this means they are in a hurry to implement the Budget. It is assumed that the brought-forward budget tabling is done to give room for the Prime Minister to determine when the general election will be held,” added Anwar in a video posted on Saturday (Aug 27). – Aug 29, 2022
