GE15? Not anytime soon - Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR - The disunity between parties within the current government would cause the 15th General Election (GE15) to probably not be held in the near future.

Pejuang chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the parties' failure to come to a consensus on deciding to hold the election has caused them to be unable to immediately dissolve the government.

He said the current government will choose a suitable date for GE15 when their party was at its strongest and capable of winning, but the situation was difficult as they have not reached an agreement.

"If I were to set a date, it would be when my party is at its strongest and will win. That will determine it. It might be earlier or much later. But we would like to see our party win.

"I think the current government is thinking the same thing. They will choose a date where they could win, however, they are now facing disunity.

"There are those who want the election to be held earlier and those who want it to be held later. As long as they do not reach a consensus, the government will not be dissolved.

"Therefore I think GE15 will not be held in the near future. After all, the 2023 Budget has not been approved.

"The approval of the budget is important for the government treasury for next year," he said in an exclusive interview with Sinar Premium at the Yayasan Al-Bukhary building, here, on Wednesday.

As of now, political leaders and the people were still wondering when GE15 would be held.

It was the prerogative right of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and needed to approved by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Although a large number of Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders led by Umno President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have urged for GE15 to the held earlier, the majority of the government leaders and Pakatan Harapan (PH) rejected the proposal.

They had instead asked the government to resolve the current economic crisis and the rising cost of living issue.

In another development, the Langkawi MP stressed that the door has been closed for negotiations to discuss the idea of the opposition big tent with PH and Perikatan Nasional (PN).

He said the decision was made by Pejuang following the party's different opinion and that the support of the people towards them was not clear.

"For instance, many Malays could not accept DAP. So, how are we going to bring in DAP when a lot of Malays are rejecting us.

"So, we would not have a cooperation with PH, either with DAP, Amanah or PKR.

"We only want to cooperate with people who are involved in politics and not to create hatred against them," Dr Mahathir said.