Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will attend a gathering of some 40,000 people tonight to celebrate his ruling party's 57th birthday.

Mahathir is the president of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which was founded in 1946 to fight Malaysia's British colonial masters.

Shariff Hamid, Umno spokesman told AFP that the theme of the celebration would be "the struggle of a nation", stressing the party's aim of uniting not just the Malays, but other ethnic groups too.

Malays account for slightly more than 50 percent of the country's 23 million people. Other groups include Chinese (30 percent), Indianspercent) and some indigenous groups.

Horse-drawn carriage

Mahathir will arrive in a horse-drawn carriage and deliver a speech at the Independence stadium where the country's first prime minister Tengku Abdul Rahman Putra proclaimed Malaysia's independence.

A fireworks display would be followed by parachutists descending into the stadium with portraits of the three previous prime ministers Mahathir.

The 77-year-old leader has announced he would step down in October and his 63-year-old heir apparent, deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, would replace him.

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. - AFP