The Kedah Umno will mobilise its machinery next month to face the possibility of a general election this year, its state liaison chief Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah said.

He said Umno should get ready soon to show its determination to wrest back Kedah.

Various improvements would be injected into existing programmes, he added.

"We have to really get going. We should also set up operations room in each of the 672 polling districts," he told reporters after chairing the state Umno meeting in Alor Setar last night.

This was the first meeting since the reshuffle of the state Umno's top two posts which saw Ahmad Bashah appointed as its chairperson and Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Mukhriz Mahathir as his deputy, effective Jan 1.

Ahmad Bashah said the preparations for the election would be coordinated with those of other BN component parties.

He also said that he had no plan to reshuffle other posts in state Umno, saying he would only do so after obtaining feedback from the headquarters and Umno president Najib Abdul Razak.

He also said that the state Umno was willing to give a second chance to candidates who lost in the 2008 general election if there were indications that they could win.

"Maybe they lost because of the political tsunami. If they can win this time around, we will field them," he said.

- Bernama