"All National Front component parties must work hard. We want a big victory," Abdullah told leaders of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the third largest component party in the coalition.

Abdullah Friday told coalition parties to be ready for a snap poll "anytime" to secure a mandate for his leadership after being handed the reins of the country at former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's resignation last week.

He said the coalition's 14 political parties must move in one direction and rhythm to achieve the goal and warned them not to remain complacent.

"I believe with the support, we will be able to achieve a bigger success in the next election," he said Sunday.

Some 8,000 MIC leaders attended a one-day special meeting to identify ways to improve the party's election machinery.

Abdullah said with the strong backing of the MIC for the National Front, "I am sure, it will contribute to a landslide victory for the National Front coalition".

Punching his fist into the air, Abdullah shouted three times: "Long live the National Front," as thousands of the delegates echoed the slogan.

Abdullah, 63, became Malaysia's fifth prime minister since independence from Britain in 1957, when he took over from Mahathir.

Elections are not due until the end of 2004 but Abdullah signalled at the weekend that polls could be called early.

A snap election will also allow his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the lynchpin of the coalition, to capitalise on the high and generally positive profile generated by Mahathir's retirement.

UMNO faces a tough challenge for the votes of the country's Muslim majority from the Islamic party PAS, which wants to turn moderate Malaysia into an Islamic state complete with punishments such as amputations and stoning to death.

Spelling out the election strategy of the coalition, Abdullah urged his supporters to understand the needs of voters and respond effectively to their demands.

"We must know their problems and their aspiration so that we can respond correctly," he said.

In the last election, in November 1999, PAS made major dents into UMNO's rural powerbase, tripling its parliamentary seats and taking control in a second of the country's 13 states.

Asked if Malaysian would go to the polls soon, Khalil Yaakob, secretary-general of UMNO, told reporters: "The (election) momentum is there. It is just the question of the prime minister Abdullah announcing the time," he told reporters at the MIC gathering.

Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the opposition Chinese-based Democratic Action Party said that the possibility of a general election in December cannot be ruled out.

"Abdullah is now preparing the mindset of the ruling coalition members to face an election," he told AFP.

TERRA.WIRE