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KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi hinted on Friday that he will handover the reins to his deputy Najib Razak next year.
Mr Abdullah announced that the ruling party UMNO will postpone internal polls from December this year to March 2009, but he refused to confirm if he would defend his party presidency.
Emerging from an UNMO meeting with his deputy, PM Abdullah claimed that the pressure for him to quit now is off.
"Maybe there are two or three who feel that way, but the majority feel there's no reason to pressure, they know the relationship between me and Najib is a good one. Whatever it is, we have a good understanding, so there's no problem," said PM Abdullah.
The 68-year-old who is also UMNO president, denied that he is putting his own self interest before the party's by clinging on to power.
"As far as I am concerned, I love my party. Even under the most difficult circumstances, I never left. I've never been on the platform of an opposition party to speak against UMNO," said the Malaysian premier.
Mr Abdullah also kept the media guessing about when he would handover to his deputy.
The date, he said, will be decided between him and Mr Najib.
With the party's divisional meetings starting in two weeks, all eyes are on whether he would defend his party presidency.
His aide said Mr Abdullah will have no problem in setting the minimum 58 nominations that he needs to defend the party presidency.
But the prime minister is adopting a wait-and-see attitude, and he reserves his decision till closer towards the divisional meeting.
Meantime, PM Abdullah hopes that by calling off the 2010 transition plan and paving the way for an earlier handover, he will be able to appease the party seniors and grassroots, and ease pressures for him to step down immediately. - CNA /ls
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