Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, right, and his wife Wan Azizah Ismail smiles during a press conference at his party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. Anwar says he has a firm commitment from more lawmakers than required to bring down the government.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia Malaysia's prime minister, facing a resurgent opposition and rebellious colleagues in the ruling party, said Wednesday he may hand over power to his deputy before the 2010 deadline he set earlier.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also said he handed over his finance ministry portfolio to his deputy Najib Razak on Wednesday. Abdullah will take the less important defense ministry from Najib.
"I will not be staying more than 2010 naturally ... (and) might go earlier," Abdullah told a news conference with Najib.
The changes were apparently aimed at gradually handing over greater responsibilities to Najib as part of a planned power transfer. Abdullah said previously he would step down in mid-2010. He did not elaborate on whether an earlier departure could be this year or next.
The announcement comes amid calls by dissidents for him to retire early after he led the ruling National Front coalition to its worst ever election results in the 51 years it has been in power since independence in 1957.
The Front won a simple majority of 140 seats in the 222-member Parliament in the March 8 elections, sliding from a two-thirds majority it had enjoyed for decades. The Front also lost control of five of Malaysia's 13 states to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's People's Alliance coalition.
Anwar claims he is now on the verge of toppling the government through parliamentary defections. He says he has pledges of support from more than 31 National Front lawmakers ready to defect to the People's Alliance.
However, Anwar has refused to divulge their names, and Abdullah has rejected the claim as a "mirage."
But even if turns out that Anwar is bluffing, it doesn't help Abdullah whose popularity is at its lowest in the ruling coalition as well as among the people, thanks to a moribund economy, huge inflation and increasing racial tensions among the country's majority Malays and minority Chinese and Indians.
Meanwhile, the opposition kept up its pressure on Abdullah.
Opposition lawmaker Tian Chua, a senior aide to Anwar, said the People's Alliance would give Abdullah "a few days" to voluntarily hand over power to the opposition to ensure a peaceful transition.
"He (Anwar)'s going to be prime minister. It's a question of days," he told The Associated Press.
By SEAN YOONG
Associated Press Writer
Associated Press writers Julia Zappei and Vijay Joshi contributed to this report.
source: charlotteobserver
17/09/08
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