Umno leaders and members have been urged to respect party president and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's decision to step down in October, according to a report.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said this when commenting o­n a motion passed by the Umno Tawau division in Sabah yesterday which called for all party divisions to "unanimously request and appeal to Mahathir to stay in his government and party posts".

"I think Dr Mahathir has made a decision and has repeatedly stated his stand. So, we should not trouble him, we should respect his decision.

"He has said it many times that he will not change his mind. He had announced his decision publicly, he has made a compromise, although he wanted to resign then (at the Umno annual general assembly last year, but o­n the persuasion of Umno leaders and members, he agreed to wait until October," Bernama quoted Syed Hamid as saying today at a party delegates meeting in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.

Appeal from Tawau

Mahathir is currently o­n a two-month leave until early May. His deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been made the acting prime minister.

Yesterday, Umno Tawau chief Abdul Ghapur Salleh said his division felt that the country still needed Mahathir's leadership and guidance.

Responding, Syed Hamid said the issue to retain Mahathir should not arise again and all party leaders and members should instead devote full attention and energy to face the next general election, which must be held by November next year.

"Don't create problems for Umno," he said.

He also advised party members to continue working without expectation of rewards, adding they must realise that they were working for the party's interests as part of a larger struggle for the Malay race.

"The struggle to uplift the integrity of our race must go o­n so that our race will continue to be respected in the future," he added.