Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he would not be a "back-seat driver" continuing to run the government after his retirement at the end of this month, a report said today.

Mahathir, who has been in power for 22 years, has previously said that he would continue to be active in politics in his retirement.

"I am not going to direct the government (after retiring)," Mahathir said in an interview with the Star.

"The government can go on and do what is directed by the (new) leader. (I'm) not a back seat driver," he said adding however that he would continue to support his party during elections.

Mahathir, a veteran Southeast Asian leader who has led Malaysia since 1981, is credited with dragging the country from the commodity-based economic backwaters into the manufacturing mainstream of Asian exporters.

There had been speculation over whether Mahathir would continue to run the government from behind the scenes following his retirement, with some citing similarities between him and Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, 80, who has kept an influential role in the government as senior minister.

Instead Mahathir said he hoped he would spend his retirement years writing his memoirs, accepting invitations to deliver public lectures and polishing up on his French.

Mahathir said he was confident of a smooth transition to his deputy premier, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi because he had made preparations for the succession process since his shock retirement announcement in June last year.

"Supposing I were to drop dead, the transition would be very sharp and very destructive," Mahathir said.

Labour of love

"There will be quarrels, struggles in the party but here I made sure that I've put things in order," he said.

Mahathir described his 22 years at the helm as a "labour of love", saying the premiership had been an "opportunity to do something for your country, for your own people and for your own religion".

However he lamented the fact that he had been unsuccessful in changing his Malay countrymen.

"I want them to learn how to look after themselves and not be dependent on the government. I want them to be honest and not try and get rich quickly."

"But by and large they've become even more dependent on the government," he said.

Mahathir said he hoped all oustanding development projects would be completed following his retirement.

Malaysia, which already boasts the world's tallest office buildings, the Petronas Twin Towers, hopes to become a developed country by 2020. - AFP