IF only Malaysia has similar betting houses as in the UK, then the odds for an early Parliament dissolution that will pave way for an early 15th General Election would have widened slightly.
Two events this morning (Oct 6) would lend credence to such odds, the stronger of which is that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah has gained a first-hand account on disaster and flood preparedness at the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (PRABN) in Ampang.
The closed-door briefing was held at the request of His Majesty to find out the preparedness of relevant agencies to face the Northeast Monsoon season which is expected to occur from mid-November to March 2023.
He arrived at the centre at 10.25am which was about five-and-a-half hours ahead of him granting audience to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (meeting slated at 4pm) who will be seeking his consent to dissolve Parliament thus paving way for GE15 to be held as early as mid-November.
The briefing was also attended by Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali.
The briefing began with weather condition and flood preparations from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) and Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) followed by the latest COVID-19 situation and the Health Ministry’s preparedness to deal with floods by Khairy.
It is hoped that the briefing would both shed light and enable His Majesty the King to consider if there is indeed a strong case for Parliament to be dissolved amid the upcoming monsoon season which is very much likely to trigger massive floods nationwide.
The second event is that of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob checking out the final preparations for the 2023 Budget at the Finance Ministry (MOF) in Putrajaya.
Arriving at the ministry at noon, the PM was welcomed by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and his two deputies Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah and Datuk Yamani Hafez Musa.
According to Bernama, Ismail Sabri had mingled with the MOF officers and staff who were involved in preparing Budget 2023 before visiting the operations room. The Budget 2023 is scheduled for tabling in Parliament by Tengku Zafrul at 4pm tomorrow (Oct 7).
It goes without saying that unless this is just a wayang or sandiwara (drama) by Malaysia’s ninth PM, Budget 2023 will proceed as scheduled tomorrow.
The caveat, however, is that Ismail Sabri does not proceed with the Budget 2023 tabling, only for the dissolution of the Parliament to take place soon after which in the words of veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang would make the former “the most irresponsible PM in the nation’s history”.
“Not only that he has served the shortest tenure of 14 months, but he has (also) abdicated his responsibility to Malaysians to help them weather the worst monsoon and floods season in history and to cushion them from the economic crisis of rising prices and depreciation of the ringgit,” added the 81 year-old Iskandar Puteri MP. – Oct 6, 2022
Main photo credit: Bernama
