Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should take advantage of the leadership transition period to restore democratic governance in Malaysia, Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said today.

"In this regard, we call upon the acting prime minister (Abdullah) to release all political prisoners including Anwar Ibrahim, and take steps to abolish the Internal Security Act.

"We hope he will take this opportunity to correct at least some of the injustices inflicted against our society over the last few years," she said in a statement.

Former deputy prime minister Anwar, who is also Wan Azizah's husband, is serving a 15-year jail term for sodomy and corruption, charges which he has denied.

Congratulating Abdullah's appointment as prime minister-in-waiting to Dr Mahathir Mohamad who has decided to relinquish all Umno and government posts after October next year, Wan Azizah said there was still an air of ambiguity despite yesterday's announcement of an orderly transition plan.

"Keadilan takes this opportunity to ask Abdullah to undertake measures to uphold the independence of the judiciary as well as initiate reforms to restore public confidence in the institutions of government."

Wan Azizah warned that any lapse or failure on his part to move in that direction may be interpreted as "lending itself to a lame duck situation", especially when he had stated that he will not initiate new policies or initiatives.

"This situation does not speak very well of our aspirations to be among the leading countries in the world nor of our leadership's ability to manage the process of succession (political leadership) which has been the bold claim of the Umno leadership."

No confidence built

She said Mahathir's dramatic announcement to resign last Saturday and subsequent moves to persuade him to retract his decision "did not build confidence in the second echelon of leadership".

Last Saturday, Mahathir shocked the 2,000-strong Umno delegates on the final day of the general assembly, and the nation, when he announced his resignation from all party and Barisan Nasional posts.

But he was overwhelmed by emotions and Umno leaders who had rushed to his side, prematurely ending his announcement. About an hour later, Abdullah announced that Mahathir had agreed to retract his resignation.

Yesterday, Umno's supreme council, the party's highest decision-making body, decided unanimously to accept and respect Mahathir's wishes to quit as announced earlier, setting in motion the 15-month planned smooth transition of the country's leadership.

Wan Azizah ended her statement with a note wishing Mahathir well during his leave in the run-up towards his resignation.