Mr Anwar had told Bloomberg TV that he was running out of options after missing several deadlines to unseat the BN.

'I thought that will happen. Whatever he says never works out and I don't think there will be another prediction of change of government, whatever he says has not happened,' Mr Abdullah responded on Thursday.

He was speaking to the media after launching the Beijing representative office of Khazanah Nasional, the government's investment arm before attending the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit beginning here on Friday.

Mr Abdullah said the BN would become stronger with the emergence of new leaders and reforms.

'There will be no change of government, the government of the Barisan Nasional will stay until we face the next election,' he said.

In another twist on his failed bid, Mr Anwar told reporters in the Malaysian Parliament lobby on Thursday that the time was not right for him to topple the government because it was not appropriate in view of the global economic crisis. -- BERNAMA