Pakatan ready to face early polls, says Loke

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan is ready to face a general election even if it is called as early as August, says Anthony Loke Siew Fook.

The DAP secretary-general however said in a statement on Saturday (April 16) that the DAP leadership had instructed its election machinery to be ready by August.

He said DAP and Pakatan are well prepared to face any possibility, including the possible dissolution of Parliament.

He also said that DAP wants the government to fulfil all important commitments set out in the bipartisan memorandum of understanding (MOU) – including the anti-party hopping law – before Parliament is dissolved.

He also said the MOU was signed between the Federal Government and Pakatan, not Umno.

Loke was commenting on the Umno supreme council’s decision not to continue with the MOU after it expires on July 31.

He added that the decision is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s business with his party.

“Therefore, we are not bound to any decision made by Umno’s supreme council.

“There must be an official discussion between the Prime Minister, as a representative of the Federal Government which is administered by several parties, and the leadership of Pakatan Harapan on decisions and issues related to the MOU,” he added.

The bipartisan MOU signed between the government and Pakatan on Sept 13, 2021 will expire on July 31.

Ismail Sabri had said that the anti-party hopping Bill is likely to be tabled at the next Parliament meeting, which starts on July 18.