Red-hot speculation Najib will dissolve Parliament

Speculation is swirling that Prime Minister Najib Razak will call for a press conference later today, where he may announce the dissolution of Parliament to pave the way for Malaysia's much anticipated 13th general election.

However, not all are convinced although they admit the rumor was spreading like wild-fire through the political circles.

"This could be another red herring to keep the hopes of the people and his own members alive for a quick election. Everyone is fed up, they want to vote," a well-informed source told Malaysia Chronicle.

The 59-year-old Najib is under tremendous pressure to call for an election that may well see the Opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim sweep to power. He has delayed doing so, even allowing the Negri Sembiulan state assembly to automatically dissolve a couple of days ago.

The 'historic' NS dissolution is unprecedented in Malaysia's history - reflecting poorly on the confidence of Najib's Umno party in facing the ballot.

Najib's guessing game on the GE13 date took further flight when the Deputy Speaker Wan Junaidi was reported as saying by a major Malay daily that it was possible for Parliament to dissolve automatically (which would be on April 28).

All the government-linked deals already inked at LIMA?

However, giving rise to the latest bout of talk that Najib would make the all-important 'D' announcement at a  presser in Putrajaya today was the fact that his government looks to have signed all the chunky deals it wanted to at the Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition or LIMA 2013.

Defense Minister Zahid Hamidi had a day ago said 24 deals involving defence assets and services worth RM4.2 billion were signed between the ministry, local and international defence firms, and the Pahang government at the LIMA exhibition. These included six government contracts, three letters of acceptance by the ministry, 11 Memorandums of Agreement (MoAs) and four Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs).

According to Zahid, the deals are aimed at strengthening the country's defence industry and creating places for European firms at the Malaysian Defence & Security Technology Park (MDSTP) in Sungkai, Perak. However, critics have slammed the government - which is already facing unprecedented national debt - for the spending spree, accusing Najib and his cronies of delaying GE13 so that they could get in one final round of deals to corruptly benefit themselves and their allies.

"Yes, a lot of people are saying Najib will not dissolve Parliament until LIMA is over as that could affect the validity of the contracts signed. But it is not about when LIMA is over. Actually only those deals directly involving the government, its agencies and the firms it controls are affected. The strictly private to private sector agreements won't be impaired. No, there's nothing to stop Najib from dissolving today so long as all the government-related deals are signed," said the source.

LIMA 2013 began on March 26 and will end on March 30.

Malaysia Chronicle