“What if the four Pakatan states move to set the date for state election earlier?" wrote Husam in a blog posting.

Husam said the states need to decide on a date for state election before Najib announces that parliament is dissolved.

Explaining further, Husam said that there was a good chance that state elections would be held separately from the general election if Najib decide on a different date.

“This means the state election in four states will be different from the date of parliamentary elections if Najib chooses a different date than the date we have announced,” he added.

Husam said by doing so, the Barisan Nasional government would be forced to decide and announce an election date which either coincided with PR's state election date, or set for an earlier date as PR has been hoping for.

Husam also said the move would eliminate the element of “surprise” in the holding of general election, which could catch PR off-guard.

Earlier, prime minister Najib Razak was quoted as saying that the date of the next general election would be a “surprise to all” in response to a suggestion by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad that he should hold elections now due to his improved ratings.

Husam however said there was a possibility that the BN would continue the old way, in which case the parliamentary election will be on a different date than the state elections in the PR-held states.

“This suggestion is a democratic act to break the monopoly to determine the election date by the ruling party and to ensure fair play to all parties,” he claimed.

According to him, the date for state election can be predetermined, such as using the year tenure as the determiner.

“If we decide the tenure is five years, then the four Pakatan state assemblies will be dissolved in early 2013. If we set for four years then we will dissolve the state assembly in early 2012.

“Let us tell Najib that he is not the only one who can spring surprises."