Malaysia's longest serving lawmaker Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said his current term as Gua Musang MP will be his last.

Speaking to Utusan Malaysia, the 79-year-old Kelantan prince said despite his popularity, it was time for him to hand over the reign to someone else.

"I told (the Gua Musang Umno division) that I can't shoulder the burden, I've been here too long... I've been an elected representative for 45 years, while I've headed the Umno division for almost 60 years.

"I'm almost 80-years old, I'm no longer strong enough to bear the responsibility of an elected representative and the time has come for someone to replace me," Tengku Razaleigh, who is widely known as Ku Li, said.

He said he had made his plans to retire known to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak prior to the 13th general election.

"But the majority wanted me to continue leading (Gua Musang) Umno and be an MP, their reason being that they feared this seat would fall to the opposition.

"However, (victory) here doesn't depend on me. This seat will be safe as long as there is unity and cooperation.

"I don't see a problem with my decision to take a step back at the next election," he added.

Tengku Razaleigh has been an MP since 1974, and has been undefeated since then.