KUALA
LUMPUR, May 10 (IslamOnline.net) - Malaysia’s veteran Prime Minister
confirmed Saturday, May 10, that he is resigning from his post as
leader of the country and that his current deputy Premier Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi will replace him at party and government levels as
scheduled by October this year.
He
said he will not lead the ruling coalition into the next general
elections, which are expected late next year adding that he will keep
to his promise of leaving his post after more than 22 years in power.
"If
the people wish to have the same leader, the leader can stay on. But
if he (the leader) wishes to retire, you must allow him to
retire," he said, in an apparent reference to his own decision to
step down this October, Bernama news agency reported.
Mahathir
announced the decision to step down when winding up the United Malays
National Organization (Umno) general assembly on June 22, last year,
catching everyone at the PutraWorld Trade Centre's Dewan Merdeka and
the nation by surprise.
But,
after much persuasion, he agreed to stay on until October this year.
The UMNO is the party headed by Mahathir.
Mahathir
gave an assurance that he would give his fullest support to his
successor who would lead the BN in the general election, reported
Bernama.
He
said that despite announcing his decision, some people still refused
to believe that he would step down as Prime Minister, Umno president
and the BN chairman.
"And,
there're others who want me to step down earlier, to make sure I'll
go," he said.
Asked
to clarify on that remark (that people wanted his earlier departure
from office), Mahathir said: "This is speculation. This is
politic. We get these kinds of things. They are very suspicious of me
and have not been supportive."
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Badawi
did very well as acting Prime Minister
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Earlier
this week, Mahathir confirmed that his deputy Premier would replace
him. He said that during the past two months, Badawi did very well as
acting Prime Minister and that the latter never called him to ask for
advice on how to handle situations that arose during his absence.
Badawi
is the 4th deputy Prime
Minister under Mahathir. The other three had diverse political
misfortunes, with the most prominent of deputy Prime Ministers being
Anwar Ibrahim who is currently serving a 15-year jail term.
Ibrahim
was revoked as Finance Minister in September 1998, a year after a
terrible economic collapse that shook the South East Asian region. He
was then arrested in a spectacular manner when a swat team composed of
commandos stormed his house while delivering a Press conference in
front of the camera’s of the International press.
His
trial, believed to be a parody of justice in Malaysia under Mahathir,
divided the country’s Malay Muslim majority and led to the loss of a
prized state in the north of the country to the Islamic Party of
Malaysia (PAS), weakening the UMNO’s role in the current government.
Mahathir’s
leadership was questioned but his successful resolution of the
economic crisis earned him the praises of the rest of the world as
well as of the local business community who prefers to have a sane
economic development than a political upheaval in the country.
Mahathir
would certainly regret that during his reign as Prime Minister the
country saw the worst public rallies and demonstrations ever and that
the Muslims remains divided in their allegiance towards him and his
former deputy premier.
