Kuala Lumpur: Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Malaysians appear to be ready for general elections in his clearest indication so far that a snap poll is near.

Speculation is mounting that Abdullah will call for a national ballot by mid-March, even though his ruling coalition's current five-year mandate only expires in mid-2009.

Abdullah told CNN in Davos yesterday that he is hoping for a "good mandate" to enable the government to implement public development programs.

"We will call for the election when I think everything is all right and at the moment I think people are ready for the election," Abdullah said in the interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Excerpts were published in the Malaysian media today. Abdullah had said in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week that his National Front coalition would probably not be able to repeat its huge electoral success of 2004,when it won 196 of the 219 parliamentary seats.

Among Abdullah's biggest electoral challenges are inflation, rising crime and tensions in this multiracial society sparked by frustrations among minority ethnic Indians, who feel they are not getting a fair share of the national wealth.

Nevertheless, the National Front, which has governed Malaysia since 1957,is expected to still easily retain power. Indians form only 8 percent of the country's 27 million people and do not have enough clout or numbers to drastically affect the poll results.

Source : PTI