Good morning. Here's what you need to know today.

Key Highlights

  • Dissolution Day?

  • Budget 2023

  • Cops vs satire




Dissolution Day?

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob reportedly had an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and is alleged to have secured consent to dissolve Parliament.

NST, which reported the audience, cited a source as saying the dissolution could happen as early as today.

The audience came ahead of the King's special visit to London from today until Oct 16.

The Umno supreme council will also be holding a meeting tonight.

If Parliament is dissolved today - the Election Commission must call for elections within 60 days.

Meanwhile, at least one poll may take place this year - a by-election in Bugaya.

The King had revoked the local emergency there to prevent polls during the height of the pandemic.

HIGHLIGHTS

King calls for preparation to face floods
'I don't want to go to Hell’ – Faizal on Parliament dissolution talks
Hadi: PAS-ruled states will not go for early elections




Budget 2023

Amid the dissolution drama, the government tabled Budget 2023 on Friday with an allocation of RM372.30 billion.

Parliament is supposed to debate the budget starting Tuesday - although the whole process will have to be repeated if the legislature is dissolved soon.

The prime minister is already using the budget as a manifesto of sorts for BN.

Among others, the government has raised the amount of assistance given to Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia recipients - with B40 families with five children eligible for RM2,500 in cash.

For the middle class, the government is lowering income tax by 2 percent and also giving RM100 in e-wallet topups.

Want to know what you'll be getting under the Budget? Answer a few questions and we'll tell you.

HIGHLIGHTS

QUIZ | What's in it for you in Budget 2023?
POLL | Budget 2023: Tell us what you think
Budget 2023 priorities in the wrong place - economists




Cops vs satire

Police are investigating a news satire Twitter account over a tweet that poked fun at the hunt for alleged 1MDB mastermind Jho Low.

The tweet by The Borneo Ghost - which satirizes The Borneo Post - had IGP Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani saying that Low was removed from Interpol's red notice list as a ploy to trick the latter into returning to Malaysia.

This is after a senior police source told Malaysiakini that Low's name wasn't visible on the list as his crime was "not life threatening".

Police denied removing Low from the list and labelled The Borneo Ghost as fake news.

Previously in 2019, former IGP Musa Hassan also mistook popular satire news site The Onion as being a legitimate news outlet.

HIGHLIGHTS

Activist detained over tweet on Malacca governor's alleged convoy U-turn
Deputy defence minister lodges police report against Rafizi
Thomas' book: Police probing Malaysia Today for leaked investigation report



Views that matter

The Malayalee connection in Malaysia
By Ranjit Singh Malhi
People have to wake up, clip the wings of Little Napoleons
By R Nadeswaran
Will floodwaters flush away Umno-Baru in GE15?
By Mariam Mokhtar



Other news that matter

  • PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli wants the government to form an RCI staffed by experts and retired generals to review the country's military procurement process.

  • Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin is now officially the president of Parti Bangsa Malaysia.

  • Kedah will ban all open-air concerts - unless it is nasyid related.

HIGHLIGHTS

Malaysia abstains in UN vote on China's Muslim Uyghurs
Ronnie Liu expected to quit DAP
Despite new laws, stalking survivors still live in fear