COMMENT | Umno's Plan A is clear: call an election this year, as soon as possible, before the opposition gets more prepared, inflation gets worse, and voters get interested in politics again.

The winners would be clear, not just Umno, but also Najib Abdul Razak and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who may count on an Umno landslide to increase their chance of walking free, by acquittal or pardon.

This Plan A has one obvious obstacle: Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob who is seen as too friendly towards Bersatu and most of all, risks unemployment immediately after GE15 despite Umno's promise to make him the “poster boy”. 

It's clearly in Ismail Sabri's interest to have a party election before the general election because he can go for the presidency...