PETALING JAYA - Umno has a good chance of winning big if the 15th General Election (GE15) is held soon.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Umno had wanted for the election to be held early because they were confident that the people still looked up to the party.
Dr Mahathir was quoted saying in an interview with the Associated Press broadcasted on Astro Awani that the opposition was falling apart, thus giving Umno the chance to secure a significant victory.
"I think they (Umno) want the general election to be held this year. If possible, two or three months from now because they believe that right now people still look up to them. In fact, the opposition is already falling apart,” he said.
He added that Umno was likely to win big if GE15 is held in a rush.
"From the government’s point of view, early election is something good because the government is ready while the opposition is not," he said.
Earlier, several Umno leaders including its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi urged for GE15 to be held as soon as possible to restore the mandate to the people to choose a new government.
Zahid was quoted as saying that the call was made considering the government's fragile position and the country was at loss when there was no foreign direct investment (FDI) coming into the country.
However, there were also Umno leaders who disagreed with this as they felt that the current government should remain until the end of the GE14 term, which was in the middle of next year.
Meanwhile, Padang Rengas MP Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz disagreed if the general election was held early as it could cause a chaos.