PM under pressure to quit by Oct 9 (malaysiakini)

The Umno supreme council which met yesterday saw several of its senior members demanding party president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down before Oct 9.

According to well-placed sources, they wanted Abdullah to hand over the reign to his deputy Najib Abdul Razak before the date as they want to ‘save Abdullah from the embarrassment' of not getting enough nominations to contest for the top party post.

Those who argued for an early exit for Abdullah felt that their boss, who is also the prime minister, could not garner sufficient support from the party's 193 divisions when they start their annual general meeting from Oct 9 to Nov 9.

Under the Umno's party constitution, aspiring candidate for the No 1 post need to obtain at least 58 nominations from these divisions nationwide.

Should Abdullah step down from his party president post by Oct 9, it would also mean he will have to relinquish his premiership as under convention, the Umno president is also made the prime minister.

According to the sources, there were at least five supreme council members - including three ministers - who spoke against Abdullah's self-imposed 2010 transition deadline to step down.

Leading the chorus for him to quit now was said to be vice-president Muhyiddin Yassin as well as Wanita chief Rafidah Aziz.

"Others also wanted to speak up but they were cut short by Najib who said the matter should be left to be discussed between him and Abdullah," a source told Malaysiakini.

malaysiakini