Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that he will not call for a general election prior to his retirement elicited mixed responses from opposition leaders today.

Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the premier's words have to be treated with caution.

"It is difficult to trust him because he has lied before. He o­nce told the world that (his former deputy) Anwar Ibrahim's black eye was self-inflicted," she said when contacted.

Anwar's black eye was among the injuries he sustained after being assaulted by then police chief Rahim Noor while in police custody in 1998.

Yesterday, Mahathir who is Asia's longest-serving leader told Reuters that he will not call for election while he is still in office and will leave the decision to his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Mahathir's words were said to have ended speculation that he will lead ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) in the general election prior to his retirement in October.

BN unprepared

Keadilan supreme council member Sahri Bahari said holding the elections after Mahathir's retirement showed that BN was not prepared for it.

He said the o­ngoing issues such as indefinite detention without trial under the Internal Security Act, abuse of economic resources, lack of integrity in the judiciary, education crisis, social problems, to name a few, would affect BN's performance if the election were held soon.

"By quitting before the election, Mahathir can get away from all the burdens and leave them to his successor," said Sahri in a statement.

PAS Youth chief Mahfuz Omar said Mahathir had no choice but to let Abdullah spearhead the ruling party in the election because of his promise to quit after the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in October.

"(While announcing his retirement) he didn't say that he will quit after leading BN to another general election," said Mahfuz when contacted today.

The Pokok Sena MP also said if Mahathir continued to lead BN and contested in the election, it will o­nly lead to another round of speculation o­n whether he really wanted to retire.

"It will also show that there are no other leaders in BN who are capable of replacing Mahathir, and this will not do his successor any good," he added.

Wise move

Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock described Mahathir's decision as wise because it showed that the premier respected the right of his successor to lead his party in the next general election and to seek the people's mandate for himself and his policies.

He said Mahathir may have come to the decision after considering the intra-and inter-BN disputes.

The Kota Melaka MP said he had already predicted earlier, according to political and logical calculations, that the general election will be held after Mahathir's retirement.

He added that some other BN leaders however may want Mahathir to continue leading the party right through the elections due to the internal crisis in the coalition, he said.