KOTA KINABALU: The government’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Pakatan Harapan on Transformation and Political Stability has no “expiry date”, says MOU Negotiation and Implementation Committee member Tan Sri Annuar Musa (pic).
Instead, the Communications and Multimedia Minister said the MOU has stated that the government and Pakatan had agreed not to hold the 15th General Election (GE15) before July 31.
“The MOU has no expiry date. Many who misunderstand, need to be corrected. What was agreed was that the GE15 cannot be held before July 31.
“But the MOU with the Members of Parliament, including the Opposition, with the government, and specifically the Prime Minister, has no expiry date.
“The MOU provides backing for the Prime Minister until Parliament is dissolved. Upon dissolution, it’s up to the Prime Minister and the leadership to decide,” he told Bernama during a working visit here on Thursday.
On Sept 13, 2021, the Federal Government and Pakatan inked an MOU to establish bipartisan cooperation covering the areas of strengthening the plan to fight Covid-19, transforming administration and parliamentary reforms, and ensuring judicial independence.
The MOU also addressed the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and saw the formation of a steering committee.
Asked for a suitable date for the dissolution of Parliament and GE15, Annuar said it should not be too late as that would give Barisan Nasional’s opponents an advantage.
He also said neither should it be held too early as the coalition itself was not sufficiently prepared.
“It will be held when we are ready, the party leadership will decide when that will be. Preparation is in terms of organisation, data collation, funding and the situation the people are in,” he said.
“If we do it when the people are suffering, we won’t feel happy ...all these have to be studied in detail.”
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he would not delay the dissolution of Parliament “even for a second” to make way for GE15 if Barisan was ready.