After forcing snap polls, Umno to promote 'stability' to return to power

A confident Umno will propose that the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition it leads use "stability and prosperity" as its theme for the polls, saying the same battle cry had been used when it won the Melaka and Johor state elections.

The decision followed a meeting among top Umno leaders last night to discuss the party's preparations, where they welcomed yesterday's decision to dissolve Parliament after almost two years of campaigning by a faction aligned with party chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Umno leaders are now hoping that the Election Commission (EC) will fix the polling date before the middle of next month, a time the Malaysian Meterological Department has warned will see heavy rain as well as floods in several states.

MetMalaysia had also warned against holding the general election this year.

"Even during the transition period, many places have already flooded. So in terms of suitability, it will not help to hold an election," the department's deputy director-general Hisham Mohd Anip said last week.

The election must be held within the next 60 days, and could see polling day as early as the first week of November if the EC allows the usual two-week campaign period.

Some 6.9 million Malaysians who were automatically listed as voters have the chance to cast their votes for the first time at this year's general election. 

MalaysiaNow previously reported that an overwhelming majority of the new voters are aged 21 to 50, with the bulk of them from the Malay community.