PETALING JAYA: Umno’s push for the 15th general election (GE15) to be held this year was driven by the hope that the monsoon season and floods would lead to a lower voter turnout, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.
The former prime minister claimed that a similar strategy was employed by the previous Barisan Nasional government by “ensuring” that polling day fell on a Wednesday in the last nationwide polls.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t work because Malaysians went out to vote and ensured a high voter turnout, ending kleptocracy,” he tweeted this evening.
Mahathir went on to claim that by holding GE15 during the monsoon season, BN wanted to bring the “kleptocrats” back into power.
He is, however, confident that Malaysians will not want this to happen and will come out in droves to block the “kleptocrats” from ruling again.
The former Langkawi MP’s tweet comes hours after BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi justified the push for the polls to be held now, saying that a stable government was needed in anticipation of a global recession, as predicted by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
On Monday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the dissolution of Parliament. The Election Commission will meet on Oct 20 to finalise the nomination and polling dates.
While BN has pushed for polls to be held this year on the back of its victories at state elections, the opposition is against it, citing the monsoon season and current economic climate. - FMT
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