Malaysia PM To Make Special Announcement As His Royal Audience Fuels Snap Poll Talk

Speculation is rife that Malaysia's parliament could be dissolved this week after the Star reported that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri held a meeting with the nation's King on Sunday, but its sources were "tight-lipped" about the subject-matter of the audience. The New Straits Times ran a source report noting that the Premier sought royal consent for the dissolution of parliament, which could happen as soon as today.

• The Prime Minister had earlier met with the King last Thursday, but official communique noted that this was a routine pre-Cabinet meeting, where Ismail Sabri briefed the Agong on Budget 2023 tabled the following day. The monarch is now out of the country for six days, having departed for a special trip to the UK. Accompanying him is Dewan Rakyat (lower house) Speaker Azhar.
• Reports are doing the rounds that the ruling UMNO party will hold a meeting of its Supreme Council, the top decision-making body, tonight. Sources told Malaysian media outlets that the talks will be devoted to the next general election (GE15) and will be followed by a meeting of the Supreme Council of the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional alliance on Tuesday.
• Free Radio Malaysia reported that the Prime Minister is expected to make an important announcement today, which could be about the dissolution of parliament. Separately, the Secretary General of the opposition DAP, the largest party in the Dewan Rakyat, said on Sunday that he was returning to Kuala Lumpur to prepare for "the dissolution of parliament tomorrow."
• If parliament is dissolved, a general election must be held within 60 days. Lawmakers were about to start debating the record-breaking MYR372bn Budget 2023 from Tuesday, but the whole process would have to be restarted in the new term if the Prime Minister calls a snap election.