KUALA LUMPUR: The dissolution of Parliament cannot be delayed any longer, Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.
"This is the last MIC Annual General Assembly before we head for the polls," he said during the party's 76th Annual General Assembly at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), here, today.
Zahid said the BN election machinery was prepared, and the coalition will wade through floods and campaign for BN's victory, should the 15th General Election (GE15) be called during the deluge.
"Dissolution is the best way. I hope that it is done before the floods, but if it is not, we are prepared.
"We cannot delay it any longer.
"GE15 is the mother of all general elections in our country. If we cannot win, our fate will be worse than GE14," he said.
Zahid asserted that "it was now or never" for the coalition that he claimed had been maligned by court cases levelled against its top leaders.
He warned that BN would be stuck in an endless cycle of selective prosecution if it did not win big, adding that their rivals would not stop with him.
Zahid expected more heads to roll while claiming this was exactly what happened to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
"We have to win dominantly in the GE.
"It is now or never. If we get defeated, not only will I be charged, Tok Mat (BN Deputy Chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan) will be next.
"Tan Sri Vicky (MIC president S.A. Vigneswaran) don't laugh, you too will be next and (MCA president Datuk Seri Wee) Ka Siong, they won't forget you)," he remarked to peals of laughter from MIC delegates on the floor.
He, however, said that BN would not do the same if it won, adding that never in its history did it practise such vindictive prosecutions.
Zahid himself has an outstanding criminal case in the courts.
He has been ordered by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to enter his defence against 47 charges of criminal breach of trust, graft and money laundering which relate to funds belonging to the charitable organisation Yayasan Akalbudi.
Zahid has finished testifying in the Yayasan Akalbudi trial, which is scheduled to resume on Oct 31.
Despite facing the legal predicament, Zahid is confident that BN will win in GE15.
He assured BN would restore the nation by bringing back community targeted actions and equal opportunity programmes and economic recovery that has fallen by the wayside for sometime.
The 14th Parliament first sat on July 16 2018 and would automatically dissolve in June 2023 if an earlier dissolution is not called.