Malaysia sets Nov. 19 date for new national elections

Oct. 20 (UPI) -- In hopes of winning a governing mandate from Malaysian voters, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob set Nov. 19 as the new date for national elections.

Malaysia has been under political turmoil since 2018 with a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal involving the state fund 1MDB leading to the United Malays National Organization losing power for the first time in 60 years.

The country's election commission said assembly elections would also occur in 13 states.

Ismail Sabri said earlier this month that the election will be held within 60 days. Malaysians were not expected to vote again until September 2023, but the prime minister struggled to hold his current coalition together since taking office.

Ismail Sabri, a member of the UMNO, had served as defense minister and deputy prime minister before he was appointed to run the government by King Al-Sultan Abdullah.

While the UMNO fell out of favor with voters six years ago, a string of victories in local elections over the past several months has shown a reemergence of the embattled political party, leading Ismail Sabri to call for new elections.

UMNO's opponents have accused the party of trying to wash its hands from past political scandals from the 1MDB Fund that led to the conviction of former premier Najib Razak, a former UMNO leader.