The prime minister said the polls would be held “before July 14” while addressing 1,200 recipients of offer letters to perform the pilgrimage sponsored by the 1MDB Foundation at Masjid Putra here.
He said Hari Raya Aidilfitri would be celebrated before July 14 and Hari Raya Aidiladha during the pilgrimage.
“But we will make it (hold GE14) earlier,” he said.
“Keep within your heart that if this government remains in power, you will be able to fulfil your pilgrimage with peace of mind,” he added.
The window for Najib to call the general election is between now until June 24 this year when the 13th Parliament will automatically dissolve after completing its 5-year term.
After that, fresh elections must be held within 60 days of the dissolution.
Pundits have speculated that Najib is likely to dissolve Parliament for new elections to be called between March and May.
On the 1MDB issue, Najib told the gathering that allegations that the investment company owned by the Finance Ministry had lost RM42 billion were untrue.
He said the RM42 billion were actually debts accumulated by 1MDB and had not “disappeared” as alleged by critics.
Najib urged the public not to slander the company to the extent of being blind to its good points.
“Don’t say the RM42 billion disappeared…they comprise debts and the debts can be settled by the company’s assets which exceed that amount.
“What is not right can be rectified. If there are irregularities, we will take action but don’t make wild allegations,” he said.
On former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s criticism that “stolen” money from 1MDB should not be used to sponsor the pilgrimage as it would not be “halal”, Najib thanked Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria for clarifying the point.
Harussani had said that it was up to Allah to determine whether a person’s pilgrimage was accepted.