Mahathir expected to quit soon

comments     Published     Updated

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is expected to quit soon, despite retracting his resignation from his party posts at the weekend, party sources and diplomats said today.

"From now to December it may be a transitional period for (Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad) Badawi to take on the leadership," a senior member of Mahathir's United Malays National Organisation (Umno) told AFP .

He suggested national elections, which are not due until 2004, could be called by the end of the year to capitalise on a recent revival of support for Umno and to endorse Abdullah as Mahathir's appointed successor.

This would allow Mahathir, who has led the country for 21 years, to bow out on a high note, he said.

Transitional period

A Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, agreed: "It certainly looks like the beginning of the transition, and the change could come within months, or less."

An Asian diplomat was more cautious, saying he expected Mahathir to lead the ruling party into the next election around the middle of next year, and then step dowm.

Minister of International Trade and Industry Rafidah Aziz said Mahathir would continue in his position as prime minister and retain all his party posts.

"We interacted with him in no uncertain terms and he cannot just do this. I can assure you that the prime minister will not resign. No way. He is going to continue as Prime Minister," Rafidah told a news conference today after launching her ministry's 2001 annual report.

However, analysts say that while Mahathir will certainly return to office after a 10-day holiday which began yesterday, his tenure is likely to be short-lived.

Proposal being 'considered'

Lending weight to speculation that Mahathir is on the way out, Umno vice-president Najib Razak was quoted as saying the prime minister only agreed to "consider" retracting his resignation.

"We respect his decision but after we have told him about the adverse implications, he decided to consider our proposal that he stays on," Najib told the Malay language daily Utusan Malaysia .

Najib is one of several Umno leaders who met with Mahathir for 45 minutes before the prime minister left for Europe on holiday.

An emergency meeting of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition's supreme council is being called to explain the situation in the wake of Mahathir's shock resignation at the Umno annual assembly on Saturday.

"As friends of Umno (Mahathir's United Malays National Organisation) they surely would want to know in detail what actually happened," said Abdullah.

Mahathir has not publicly retracted his resignation from the leadership of Umno and the National Front, although his agreement to do so was conveyed to a stunned nation by Abdullah.

There was speculation that Mahathir had also planned to announce his resignation as prime minister, but he never got that far, choking with emotion and being mobbed by supporters after quitting his party posts.

Weeping Mahathir

A weeping Mahathir was hustled from the podium into a private room, where Abdullah and other top party leaders apparently succeeded in getting him to change his mind, at least temporarily.

Today's newspapers were full of calls for Mahathir to stay on, with the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry describing his resignation as "untimely".

"The business community as a whole still needs Dr Mahathir's able stewardship," said the association's deputy secretary general David Chua.

Share prices were lower in early morning trade today in an immediate reaction to Mahathir's announcement, dealers said.

They said sentiment was affected by uncertainties over the political situation given that some investors are taking Mahathir's move as a sign of his eventual departure.

Early Monday, the KLSE composite index was down 9.80 points or 1.3 percent at 733.55.



Malaysiakini
news and views that matter


Sign In