Jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim disagrees with the views of political analysts that the opposition will be defeated in the next general election.

According to him, the time is now right for a change in government.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his court case in Putrajaya today, Anwar said political pundits had also given the same views in 2008 and 2013.

"The opposition has the capability and we must all start to work together. We must start seat negotiations.

"The time is right for change. It will be tragic for the nation if we allow the abuses (by the present BN government) to continue," he claimed.

Among others, analysts based their prediction on the opposition being fragmented following the collapse of Pakatan Rakyat, and therefore failing to provide a viable alternative to BN.

Although Anwar was not able to speak more to the media on the purported abuses, he is believed to be referring to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's government, which is facing the 1MDB saga, which has gone through courts in the international arena, except in Malaysia.

Well-known economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram (photo) had last week predicted that the next general election would be held in April and it was very likely that the opposition would lose, with the BN winning.

Penang Institute's Ooi Kok Hin was also quoted, in an article published in The Diplomat, that there were four reasons for BN to remain in power: electoral malpractices, institutional failures, political fragmentation and societal fault lines.

The opposition is seen as fragmented despite former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Najib's former deputy Muhyiddin Yassin forming Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and lining itself with the opposition Pakatan Harapan, consisting of PKR, DAP and Parti Amanah Negara.

The biggest question lies with Islamist party PAS, which has broken off from the opposition pact.