Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi remained tight-lipped today on the timing of general elections amid widespread speculation that they could be held as early as March.

Following a meeting with top leaders of his ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, Abdullah said he has "no inspiration yet" on when to call general elections but has told component parties to work hard to ensure a larger victory.

"When (the elections will be held), nobody knows. All we know is that we have to work hard to ensure the party's victory in the upcoming elections," he told reporters.

We are "strong but we want to be stronger. We want to do better than a two-third majority. We will have to work hard for it."

General elections, held every five years, must be called by the year-end but widely tipped by April. The polls will be the first test for Abdullah, who became premier just over two months ago after succeeding veteran strongman Dr Mahathir Mohamad who retired Oct 31 after 22 years in power.

Abdullah said the coalition was ready to take on the opposition PAS, which rules Terengganu and Kelantan - two of Malaysia's 13 states, but he declined to reveal election strategies.

"Strategies are not to be revealed" but "we are very prepared," he added.

Good results

The hardline PAS is the main threat to Abdullah's Umno, which is the backbone of the ruling coalition.

In the 1999 polls, PAS wrested control of a second state and tripled its parliamentary seats to 27 at the expense of Umno. Votes from minority Chinese and Indians at the time helped the BN retain its two-third parliamentary majority.

New deputy premier Najib Razak told reporters that the coalition was confident of "very good results" this time after its share of the popular vote fell to 56 percent in the 1999 polls from 65 percent in 1995 elections.

But he said PAS remained a threat especially in rural Malay areas.

"There is general optimism in the air. Quite a number of those people who have gone against us in the last general election are back in the fold," he said.

"But we cannot be complacent. There will be threats to the National Front particularly from PAS in some of the traditional Malay areas but we are more confident in dealing with these threats than ever before."

Great optimism

Analysts have warned that any significant loss of support to PAS could lead to a challenge to Abdullah for the Umno leadership and stoke fears of a rise of Islamic extremism.

Political commentator Abdullah Ahmad predicted that the BN would "win comfortably" buttressed by the country's strong economic prospects and "feel-great optimism" after the change in leadership but it was unlikely to regain Kelantan or Terengganu.

In northern Kedah, homestate of former premier Mahathir, Umno is also likely to come under pressure from PAS which has capitalised heavily on perceived abuses and Malays' rising religiosity, he told a conference here.

PAS has said it aimed to capture four more states in the coming elections, including Kedah. - AFP