It’s interesting to me that people think of the MJO as an independent forcing. It’s not. The tendency of El Niño to stall the MJO over the maritime continent is known and modeled:
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2016MS000725
The more interesting question is why the effect is stronger this year. Tropical met folks would have you believe the tropics are the origin of teleconnections, but that’s bullshit, the tropics are coupled to the poles just like the poles are coupled to the tropics. What I’ve been wondering is whether climate change could enhance the “winter monsoon”, particularly in the early/middle winter, by building the strength of the Siberian high. A stronger winter monsoon would reduce diurnal convection in the maritime continent which would tend to stall the MJO in 5 and 6.