Parliament has been dissolved paving the way for the 15th general election (GE15), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced. This means the nation will go to the polls within 60 days.
“In line with Article 40(2)(b) and Article 55(2) of the Federal Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has approved my request to dissolve Parliament today, Monday, Oct 10, 2022,” Ismail said in a special address on Monday.
He added that the dates for nominations and polling will be decided by the Election Commission (EC).
He maintained that the decision to dissolve Parliament was to return the mandate to the people in view of the political instability in the country after three different administrations in the span of two and half years.
“The people’s mandate is a powerful antidote for the country to achieve political stability and elect a government that is firm, stable and respected after GE15,” he said.
The announcement came amid speculation of a snap election and just three days after the national budget for 2023 was tabled.
Umno has been pushing for GE15 to be held by the end of the year, but the party’s main rivals, Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN), had spoken out against it.
Leaders from both PH and PN have cited the monsoon season, the economic situation, the effects of the pandemic, and year-end festivities as reasons to delay the polls to a later date.
Many had earlier expected Ismail to dissolve Parliament prior to the tabling of the Budget. However, the Prime Minister, exercising his prerogative, decided to make the announcement yesterday, effectively dissolving the Parliament.
For the SMEs community, the dissolution means all the incentives announced in Budget 2023, will be put on hold. The implementation of the proposals will depend on the outcome of the election as to which party will be chosen as the Government of the Day.
Budget 2023 will have to be retabled as the new government is not bound by a budget tabled by the previous government.The whole process from the first reading will be repeated once the new government has been formed after the elections are over.
The benefit announced for the SMEs including the one-off grant of RM1,000 for all SMEs, a reduction of tax rate to 15 percent for the first RM 100,000 taxable income and the financing facilities to be made available via SemarakNiaga 2023.
