Goh also said he would stand in the polls.

Goh said the elections would be held some time after parliamentary debate on the national budget - which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong presented on Feb. 17 - but before 2007, according to the Straits Times newspaper.

"I can tell you an election is coming. I can tell you it will be held after the budget. I can tell you further that it will be held before the end of this year," Goh said at a community event Saturday, the newspaper reported.

Lee must hold elections by mid-2007, but some political analysts have said they expect the next election to be held sooner so the government can benefit from Singapore's current economic health.

"Lastly, I can tell my grass roots that I will be standing for election in Marine Parade," Goh said.

Goh, 64, holds the title of senior minister and represents Singapore's Marine Parade electoral district. He became the country's prime minister in 1990 and stepped down in 2004 to hand power over to Lee, who is 54.

Goh led the ruling People's Action Party to victory in three general elections in 1991, 1997 and the most recent one in 2001.

The party has never lost an election, holds 82 of 84 elected seats in parliament and is likely to trounce the ragtag opposition again in the next polls.

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