Umno top five to meet soon on GE15 date, says PM

A meeting among Umno's top five leaders is expected to be held soon, to discuss the date for the 15th general election (GE15), says Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Ismail, who is an Umno vice-president, said the window for holding GE15 this year was still open and that Umno's top five would meet to discuss the timing for the polls.

"As I have told you earlier, every decision on the general election will be made after a discussion among Umno's top five," he told reporters after an event in George Town today.

Asked whether the meeting would be held before or after the tabling of Budget 2023 in the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 7, Ismail said it had not yet been decided.

"The discussion will be held as soon as possible or maybe earlier before tabling Budget 2023," he said.
 
Umno's top five leaders are its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, deputy president Mohamad Hasan and vice-presidents Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Mahdzir Khalid and Ismail.

Asked about the health condition of Najib Razak, Ismail said he had told the health ministry to look into the former prime minister’s needs.

"I have called the ministry to try to accommodate what Najib requires… whether he can be admitted to the National Heart Institute (IJN) or not will be decided by the health ministry," he said.

At the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning, Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that his client could not attend court today as he had been admitted to Hospital Kuala Lumpur and would likely be transferred to IJN later in the day.