"Yes, we are ready," Lee told reporters in remarks monitored on NewsRadio 93.8.

General elections must be held by June 2007 but the 53-year-old Lee, who became prime minister when Goh Chok Tong stepped down in August 2004, has issued strong signals that he soon wants his own mandate.

A planned package of financial handouts for low-income earners and a national budget to be unveiled next month widely expected to contain a slew of "goodies" indicate that general elections may be near, analysts and opposition politicians say.

Lee, who is also the finance minister, will announce the budget in parliament on February 17, followed by debates.

"The chances of elections being called before the budget are not that great," said Lee, the son of Singapore's founding father and former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.

Some analysts are already calling it an "election budget" because of the expected giveaways following better-than-expected economic growth in 2005.

While the prime minister did not give any hint on when polling would be called, the pro-government Straits Times newspaper has calculated that elections could be held as early as March 25 after the budget debate ends.

The PAP has ruled Singapore since independence in 1965.

Opposition parties play only a marginal role in Singapore politics, with many of their leaders hounded by debilitating defamation suits filed by top government officials, a lack of access to the mainstream media and fractiousness.


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