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KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's ruling party has accepted former premier Mahathir Mohamad's decision to quit but hopes he will rejoin the party in the future, news reports said Thursday.
"We have accepted the decision because it is his desire to leave the party.
But we hope he will return one day," said deputy prime minister Najib Razak, according to the Star daily.
"I am prepared to meet Tun (Mahathir) any time, but we know his stand and his position. So we leave it at that for the time being," state Bernama news agency quoted Najib, who is also the party's deputy president, as saying.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called for an emergency meeting late Wednesday after Mahathir's dramatic exit from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), in protest over Abdullah's leadership.
Mahathir had also called on government lawmakers to temporarily stand aside to force Abdullah out of office.
Following Mahathir's exit from the party he had helmed for over two decades before stepping down in 2003, government lawmakers pledged their allegiance to Abdullah, and even his son Mukhriz declined to resign from UMNO.
Mukhriz, a senior member of UMNO's influential youth wing, said he would not resign but would remain a strong opposing voice from within.
Mahathir's other son, Mokhzani Mahathir, has quit UMNO and warned the party is heading for "annihilation" unless Abdullah steps down over its disastrous March 8 election results.
The ruling coalition lost five states and a third of parliamentary seats in the polls, but Abdullah insists he has a mandate to carry on.
- AFP /ls
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