PUTRAJAYA: Caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob's decision to dissolve Parliament this year was an attempt to win the 15th General Election (GE15) in an unfair manner.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Ismail Sabri was aware that opposition parties were not fully prepared to face the national polls amid the monsoon season.

"He is having the time of his life being prime minister. Previously, he did not have a chance to be the prime minister, but all of a sudden, he managed to become one. 

"He is 'syok sendiri' (full of oneself), that's why he did not want to resign because if he did, he can't be the prime minister anymore and go here and there.  

"This is why he decided to just dissolve Parliament since he knows the opposition is not ready. He was looking for a way to achieve an unfair victory," he told a press conference at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here today. 

The Langkawi member of parliament said this following a social media posting today in which he  questioned Ismail Sabri's recent decision to dissolve Parliament.

Dr Mahathir said former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, upon losing his majority in the Dewan Rakyat in 2021, did not dissolve Parliament, and Ismail Sabri could have followed the precedent.

"If Muhyiddin was dropped because he lost his majority and replaced by Ismail Sabri, why didn't Ismail resign after losing his majority and just promote another Prime Minister?

"There was no need to dissolve Parliament," he wrote in a short Twitter posting titled "the special inmate", in reference to convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.