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KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Thursday he would stand down in mid-2010, after facing repeated calls to quit since disastrous March elections.
Abdullah said he had struck an agreement with his deputy Najib Razak to hand over power but first wanted the opportunity to implement reforms and projects promised since he came to office five years ago.
"I have decided to hand over my position to Najib to take over as party president in June, in the middle of 2010," Abdullah told a press conference.
The president of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which leads the Barisan Nasional coalition, is traditionally prime minister.
"I have achieved an agreement with Najib that I will not lead the BN and UMNO in the next election... and also this means that a transition of power must take place," he said.
Abdullah had resisted calls to quit after general elections that handed the opposition unprecedented gains, and a fuel price hike that triggered public outrage and a series of protests.
"My wish is to strengthen the party and carry out the implementation of programmes and promises made at election time," he said as he stood alongside Najib and other senior UMNO leaders.
Najib pledged his support for Abdullah and urged the party to accept his decision and re-elect the premier in leadership elections in December where disgruntled UMNO elements had been expected to vent their feelings.
"Today starts the process of the transition of power in an orderly manner, following UMNO tradition, where he has given support for me to be his replacement," he said.
"I will continue to accept Abdullah as head of the party," he said.
"I urge members to support the candidacy of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as president of the party in the upcoming elections and urge party members to accept this."
Asked about his feelings, Abdullah jokingly pretend to cry and said: "I feel a little sadness, nothing more than that. I feel a sense of achievement, I have taken steps that are well received.
After a meeting of UMNO division and branch leaders -- whose support Abdullah needs to stay in power -- the embattled premier said he was confident the party would accept the long-range departure plans.
"The meeting gave me a standing ovation after this, so I think it was well received," he said.
Political uncertainty since the elections, which has hurt Malaysia's financial markets, was heightened after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he is 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 over a decade ago -- which he says are fabricated by the government, and Najib has been forced to deny accusations that he had an affair with a Mongolian woman murdered in 2006.
Abdullah dismissed suggestions that the ongoing trial in that case -- a close friend of Najib has been charged with abetting the murder -- had played a role in the timing of his departure.
"I think that is separate. This is a decision at a party level," he said.
The opposition alliance on Thursday filed a motion in parliament seeking to hold a debate on the "loss of confidence" in the coalition government.
"The public has lost confidence in the integrity of the government," said Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who leads his Keadilan party.
"The people are now facing a huge crisis, having to bear the burden of expensive fuel, the higher cost of food and basic needs. The parliament should debate this motion," she said. - AFP/ir
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