KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi met with leaders of his ruling party Thursday amid speculation he will announce a plan to step down in June 2010.
Abdullah has faced calls to quit since March elections that handed the opposition unprecedented gains, and a fuel price hike that has triggered public outrage and a series of protests.
Division and branch leaders of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) -- whose support Abdullah needs to stay in power -- were due to be briefed by the premier and his deputy Najib Razak.
The Star newspaper said there was "tremendous anticipation" that they would discuss the succession issue, as the party heads into grassroots elections that will pave the way for leadership polls in December.
A political website, Malaysian Insider, cited unnamed party officials as saying Abdullah would unveil a plan to hand over to Najib in June 2010, in an effort to reduce political uncertainty.
It said his announcement would likely see Abdullah and Najib returned unopposed as the party's top leaders in the December polls, averting any challenge by disgruntled elements inside UMNO.
UMNO secretary general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said he was unaware of any handover decision, but an aide to the deputy prime minister told AFP he had been informed that "something important" was to be announced at the meeting.
Political uncertainty since the March elections, which has hurt Malaysia's financial markets, was heightened after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he was poised to seize power with the help of government defectors.
Anwar and Najib are now gripped in an astonishing political brawl, with both facing serious misconduct accusations that could decide who will be the next prime minister.
Anwar faces new allegations of sodomy -- the same charge he was jailed on more than a decade ago -- which he says were fabricated by the government, and Najib has been forced to deny accusations that he had an affair with a Mongolian woman who was murdered in 2006.
The Star said Thursday's meeting was designed to hose down the uproar in UMNO, which leads the Barisan Nasional coalition that is made up of parties representing multicultural Malaysia's various races.
"The priority of the leadership is that members must rally together to face the political and economic turbulence," it quoted a senior UMNO official as saying.
"Issues related to the stability of the party will be discussed and the leadership transition is one of those issues," he said.
AFP/ir
Channel NewsAsia
10/07/08
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