Political uncertainty rattles Malaysia, party calls meetings

Political uncertainty rattles Malaysia, party calls meetings

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's shaken political establishment will hold emergency meetings on Tuesday after veteran Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad shocked the nation with a resignation announcement and headed off to Europe on holiday.

Although party leaders stated that Mahathir had agreed to retract his resignation from his party posts he has not spoken publicly himself, and insiders said it appeared to be only a question of time before he goes.

The supreme council of the ruling National Front coalition is due to convene at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. Jakarta time) on Tuesday, immediately after a meeting of top leaders in Mahathir's United Malays National Organization (UMNO).

The Front's secretary general Mohamed Rahmat said the council would dicusss Mahathir's wish to resign from all his political posts, and would issue a statement afterwards.

The prospect that the man who has led Malaysia for 21 years could soon quit has rattled Malaysia and raised concerns of political instability in one of Southeast Asia's most stable states.

Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz tried to rally jittery investors, saying Mahathir would remain in his posts, but share prices dropped more than two percent on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange on Monday.

Rafidah made it clear she was as startled as anyone by Mahathir's resignation at the annual assembly of his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) on Saturday.

It was "unfair" for Mahathir, 76, to make the announcement without preparing the party for it, she told a news conference.

"If we know the direction, expectations can be met and there will be no speculations, no worries, no anxieties and no doubts, whether in or outside the country," she said.

Mahathir, who is also finance minister, left the country within hours of creating pandemonium with his tearful resignation and is reportedly holidaying in Naples in Italy.

Although some opposition politicians have suggested that his announcement was simply a ploy to rally support, party sources and diplomats said Mahathir was expected to step down soon.

"From now to December it may be a transitional period for (Deputy Prime Minister) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to take on the leadership," a senior member of UMNO told AFP.

He suggested national elections, which are not due until 2004, could be called by the end of the year to capitalize on a recent revival of support for UMNO and to endorse Abdullah as Mahathir's appointed successor.

This would allow Mahathir to bow out on a high note, he said. A Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, agreed: "It certainly looks like the beginning of the transition, and the change could come within months, or less."

An Asian diplomat was more cautious, saying he expected Mahathir to lead the ruling party into the next election around the middle of next year and then step down.

There was speculation that Mahathir had also planned to announce his resignation as prime minister along with transition plans, but he never got that far, choking with emotion and being mobbed by supporters after quitting his party posts.

A weeping Mahathir was hustled from the podium into a private room at party headquarters, where Abdullah and other top party leaders apparently succeeded in getting him to change his mind, at least temporarily.

Abdullah, Mahathir's chosen successor, is often called "Mr Nice Guy" but he faces a huge task in convincing the nation that he is up to the top job, which has been held with supreme authority by Mahathir for 21 years.

Abdullah, 62, was appointed deputy premier in February 1999 to replace Mahathir's charismatic former deputy Anwar Ibrahim, who was sacked and jailed in September 1998.

"If Mahathir had actually resigned, Abdullah would have been the new prime minister. There is no dispute about it," said Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the opposition Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP).

"But the only question is whether Abdullah can uphold the premiership with authority or whether he will be challenged from inside UMNO," he told AFP.

Lim said if Abdullah failed to perform up to expectations, he could be challenged by the three vice-presidents of UMNO -- Najib Razak, Muhammad Muhammad Taib and Muhyiddin Yassin.