Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad chaired his 883rd and last weekly cabinet meeting today, winning accolades from his ministers and pledges of support for his successor.

After posing for a group photograph in this new administrative capital, cabinet members hailed Mahathir's leadership and expressed confidence in the ability of annointed successor Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Mahathir and his deputy will pay a ceremonial call on King Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin at 3pm Friday where Abdullah will be formally sworn-in as Malaysia's fifth prime minister since independence in 1957.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the cabinet was confident of Abdullah's "ability in carrying out the responsibility entrusted upon him to pursue the struggles for Malaysia's better and brighter future."

Defence Minister Najib Razak, tipped as a likely deputy prime minister to Abdullah, expressed his appreciation of Mahathir's "leadership, firmness and boldness", the official Bernama news agency reported.

No other leader

There has been a huge outpouring of praise for Mahathir, 77, in the weeks leading up to his retirement.

A generation has known no other leader, and even those old enough to remember the previous prime minister have had their lives shaped dramatically by Mahathir's 22 years in power.

Hundreds of messages have appeared in local newspapers, hailing him as a hero for overseeing Malaysia's rapid economic development and giving this small nation of 23 million people a voice in the world.

The fact that Mahathir has been widely condemned internationally since criticising Jews at an Islamic summit in mid-October appears to have served only to rally the faithful to his cause. - AFP