PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has stressed that there is no rift between him and his deputy and that their relationship is good.

"I have the best of relationships with deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib (Tun Razak). Why are you asking me this?" he said when responding to questions Tuesday after announcing the new Cabinet line-up.

Asked why his deputy was not present at the press conference, the Prime Minister retorted that Najib had not yet been sworn in as the Deputy Prime Minister.

"He will be the DPM only tomorrow. You want to read into so many things?" he said.

He also came to the defence of his deputy, saying that the opposition's allegations on corruption against Najib were baseless.

"There is no proof and nothing to show that Najib is involved in any corrupt activities. One can always make all sorts of allegations. And you know that the person making all these allegations is also not free from allegations and accusations."

"People can talk about evidence that comes in boxes but where is the proof? There is no proof of anything. I have the latest information from ACA and the police with regards to the candidates," he said when asked to react to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's allegations about Najib.

Abdullah was asked why he was maintaining Najib in the Cabinet when there were accusations made by the opposition that his deputy was not 'clean'.

On speculation that Umno would move a motion of no confidence against Abdullah as their leader, he dismissed it saying that as far as he was concerned, he had been given a strong mandate.

He said Barisan Nasional was only eight seats short of attaining a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

"It is my intention to continue. I have the support of Umno and the Barisan leadership."

On the letter sent by Umno veteran leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah asking divisions to urge for an extraordinary general assembly to discuss the 'shocking' polls results, Abdullah said there were no plans for it.

On his expectations of his new line-up, the prime minister believed that they would perform better than before.

"They are capable of fulfilling the agenda, " he said, adding that this time the emphasis would on vigorous implementation of projects and policies.

"I have always heard many times, reading articles and hearing comments from people that Pak Lah (Abdullah) has worked out the policies and good projects but was short on implementation," he said.

He admitted that during the earlier stages the Government was very much involved in planning policies and this took up a bit of time.

"This time we will deliver the objectives intended," he added.