Malaysian PM to give 'special' TV address amid talk of early election

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will deliver a "special message" in a television address at 1500 local time (0700 GMT) on Monday after raising the prospect of dissolving parliament soon to hold an election.

An election is not due until September 2023, but Ismail has been under increasing pressure from some factions of his ruling coalition to hold the vote earlier for a stronger mandate and due to infighting within the alliance.

The prime minister will address the nation to give a "special message", he said in a Twitter post. He did not say what the speech would be about.

The usual practice is for the prime minister to announce the dissolution of parliament, with the Election Commission then setting a date for polls.

An election must be held within 60 days of dissolution of parliament.

If Ismail dissolves parliament soon, the election would come just as the economy starts to feel the pinch of rising costs and a global slowdown.

It would also coincide with the year-end monsoon season and floods, which could reduce voter turnout.

Many lawmakers from his ruling alliance and the opposition have warned against holding elections this year due to the anticipated floods.

Ismail is under pressure from some colleagues in his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party to call an early poll to take advantage of what they see as favourable sentiment towards them, and to form a more stable ruling coalition.

UMNO has won elections held at the state level as recently as March, when it wrested control of the southern state of Johor back from the opposition which had been in power since 2018.

Malaysia has been mired in political uncertainty since the last election in 2018 - a historic vote in which the opposition ousted UMNO, which had governed for more than 60 years since independence, due to widespread corruption allegations.

But the winning coalition collapsed in two years due to infighting, returning UMNO to power in a new alliance.

Malaysia has had three prime ministers since the 2018 election.