PUTRAJAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malayian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has hinted that the 14th General Election is likely to be held before this year's haj season, which begins in July.

Speaking at an event to hand over offer letters to individuals who will be performing the haj, Mr Najib said they would be doing so after two "raya" had been concluded.

"By the time you all leave, it will be after Hari Raya (Aidilfitri) and also after the other raya," he said in an obvious reference to pilihanraya (general election in Malay).

The 1,200-strong group comprising imam, village heads and community leaders whose pilgrimage is sponsored by 1MDB, will leave on July 14.

This year's haj season starts in July.

Mr Najib had earlier said he was waiting for a "spark of inspiration" to call the election.

"I am waiting for some sort of spark of inspiration, or ilham as the Malays would say, to find a date," he said this week after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting, the first this year.

Talk is that Parliament would be dissolved sometime between the end of March and early April.

The current Parliament's five-year term will end on June 24.