Malaysia's Mahathir urges PM to quit now to save reputation
Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad has called on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign immediately, saying his reputation will be shredded if he insists on staying on in the top job.
Mahathir renewed his campaign to oust Abdullah shortly after the prime minister reportedly told his party he would hold discussions after December internal party polls on a handover of power to his deputy Najib Razak.
"For his own good he should step down now because then (the transition) will be very smooth but if you wait until the (party polls) you don't know what the people are going to say," Mahathir said late Saturday.
"There may be rude remarks, they may say, 'Why don't you go?' You know, all the kinds of nasty accusations, finger pointing," he told reporters after addressing 1,000 United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) members.
"If he waits until the elections, it will cause a major split within the party because those who support him and those who oppose him will clash at the assembly."
Abdullah has faced persistent calls to quit after the coalition lost its two-thirds majority in parliament and control of five states in an unprecedented setback in March 8 general elections.
He has claimed a mandate to rule, but confirmed that Najib will succeed him, in line with the tradition of his UMNO which heads the coalition.
Mahathir's comments came after Abdullah took partial responsibility for the party's electoral losses at an UMNO meeting in southern Johor state.
"I'm partly to blame," Abdullah said according to weekend reports in which he also responded to calls by UMNO leaders in the northern states of Kedah and Penang for him to step down in favour of Najib.
"There have been demands... it does not matter that they want to express themselves on the matter of stepping down," he said according to the official Bernama news agency.
"I am not one who is going to retain the leadership forever," he added.
Party vice president Muhyiddin Yassin said Abdullah told the Johor gathering he will discuss a transition of power to Najib, with the talks to take place after the December internal UMNO polls, Bernama reported.
"The period of transition and so on were not mentioned in detail... matters such as when the transition will take place and so on will be discussed between him and... Najib," Muhyiddin told Bernama.
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar marks end of political ban
KUALA LUMPUR--Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Monday celebrates his official return to the political stage, as a ban from public office expires a decade after he was sacked as deputy prime minister.
The lifting of the ban marks the end of an extraordinary saga that saw Anwar convicted on sex and corruption charges and spend six years in jail, before storming back to prominence in historic March elections.
With Anwar at the helm, a reinvigorated opposition seized a third of parliamentary seats and five states in the worst ever showing for the Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled for half a century.
Now the 60-year-old maverick is once again being touted as a future prime minister, but this time for his Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance which he has described as a "government-in-waiting."
Anwar had been expected to re-enter parliament quickly through a by-election in one of the seats held by his Keadilan party, and to challenge Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in a symbolic no-confidence vote soon after.
But in light of the stunning and unexpected gains, although he is eligible to run for office from Tuesday, he has said he is in no hurry to act.
"Certainly not in the next few months," he said in a weekend interview with The Star daily. "Building up an effective, creditable Pakatan Rakyat is to my mind far more important for now."
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