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On Monday, Oct. 3, rumours that Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri was meeting with Malaysia's king (Yang di-Pertuan Agong) to dissolve Parliament was dispelled, because the king was still in Singapore after attending the F1 Singapore Grand Prix.

Rumours

Speculation has been growing in the past few weeks that Ismail Sabri was contemplating dissolving parliament and calling a general election. The next Malaysian GE, informally known as GE15, is due to be held before the end of September 2023.

The Edge Markets reports that the UMNO supreme council, the political party that heads up the governing coalition, wants to dissolve parliament soon in order to allow for GE15 to be held before the end of the year.

So on the morning of Oct 3. rumours were flying that Ismail Sabri was meeting with the king, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, to recommend the dissolution of parliament and get the ball rolling on the GE15.

These rumours were quashed by the comptroller for the Royal Household, Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin, who spoke to Free Malaysia Today. Calling the rumours "fake news", he explained that the king was "still in Singapore".

Race night

The king was indeed in Singapore. He was pictured attending the Singapore Grand Prix together with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Malaysian Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul.

It seems that as of Oct. 3, the Agong has yet to return.

According to The Edge Markets, he was scheduled to arrive in Singapore for a state visit in September, but that visit has been postponed as both he and President Halimah Yacob were in London to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Racing to election season

Speculations for the election were kicked into high gear last month when it was announced that the 2023 budget would be brought forward to Oct. 7.

The general secretary of UMNO, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, has been calling for Ismail Sabri to dissolve parliament and call new elections, accusing opposition parties of trying to delay the election.

As quoted by Free Malaysia Today, he said that the opposition were writhing like "worms in a fire", and that if the opposition was confident, they would not delay the election for "even a minute".

Zahid was recently acquitted on charges of corruption in the Foreign Visa case, but is still facing other charges of corruption in a different case.

Opposition parties are trying to delay the election, citing the difficulty of holding elections during Malaysia's monsoon season. Bersatu Youth Chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, whose party is part of the ruling coalition, was quoted by The Star as saying those calling for a monsoon GE are "out of their minds".

He brought up the spectre of the devastating 2021 floods in Johor, saying that due to climate change, floods were likely to get worse.

Zahid had initially said that the Barisan Nasional coalition election machinery was ready to "brave the floods". After being criticised, however, he said that he had been misinterpreted by the opposition.

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Top image by Fyrol for Ministry of Communications and Information via Lawrence Wong/Facebook