KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today a German translator had misinterpreted his comments regarding when the next general election will be held.

Najib clarified that he was speaking in English and the meaning of his statement was misconstrued when it was translated into German, which was then picked up by news outlets.

“The translator didn’t understand what I was saying. I was speaking in English but the translator translated it into German.

“I said the elections are not due until 2018, that does not mean elections will be on 2018. Elections are not due, it was mistranslated,” he told reporters in a press conference today after chairing the Umno Supreme Council meeting.

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The Barisan Nasional chairman added that he already had issued a clarification on the matter and emphasised that the elections may or may not be held in 2018.

“I have already made a clarification yesterday that I didn’t say that elections will be on 2018 or did I say that it will be held much earlier. That’s all,” Najib said.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) yesterday clarified that Najib had said that the holding of elections is not due to any single factor.

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The PMO was clarifying news reports by Reuters and The Malay Mail Online with regard to a statement made by Najib on the issue of an early general election.

‎Reuters reported the day before that Najib opposed calling early elections before the 2018 deadline, and had said that such a decision should not be based on “any single factor”.

Najib said today that Umno also had increase of memberships in the past few months with 6000 members joining the party in August alone.