BN will hold the next general election "very soon", before former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's new party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) gets a foothold, predicts former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam.

"I want to tell you that I think BN will call for election very soon.

"If it is true, the biggest challenge for those who oppose the government will be to get together and become a cohesive force," Musa told a press conference after launching his new book, "Frankly Speaking", in Kuala Lumpur today.

Musa, who was Mahathir's deputy, added that another challenge for the opposition would be on seat allocation.

"They must win the election and in order to win the election, they must be able to (agree) on seat allocation. That is the punch line.

"They must be unanimous on the allocation of seats. Most of the time in the past, it never worked," said the former Umno deputy president.

However, Musa refused to speculate on when the next general election will be held.

'Too many Malay-based parties'

After submitting Bersatu's registration papers at the Registrar of Societies yesterday, pro-tem president Muhyiddin Yassin said the party will only admit bumiputera members, but non-bumiputera can be associate members and be appointed to positions.

Commenting on this, Musa pointed out that the strategy is to capture the Malay votes and penetrate Umno's base.

However, he added, it is not certain whether the strategy would succeed as there are too many Malay-based parties in the country.

"Now you have three or four parties which are trying to get the Malay votes. A lot of these parties would try to exploit racial feelings. It means they are going to contest against Umno and they are going to divide the Malay votes.

"Collectively, I hope they (Bersatu) will come out as truly a Malaysian combination. It's up to the capability of the leadership," Musa said.

Nevertheless, he stressed that he supports the concept of two-party system and would be glad to see a strong opposition for the purpose of checks and balances.

The presence of Muhyiddin at the book launch earlier had raised eyebrows but Musa denied that he received an invitation to join the new party.

"That's the problem. Malaysians always fantasising politically, always associating.

“When you see me standing by the roadside with somebody, 'look, he is going to join (the others), conspiring'. It is so unfortunate. They are my friends. Muhyiddin is my friend,” he said.