Malaysia PM should step down earlier - minister
Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:58pm IST
Malaysia PM should step down earlier - minister
Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:58pm IST
Malaysia PM should step down earlier - minister
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should consider passing the baton to his deputy before 2010 to give the ruling coalition time to prepare for the next elections, a member of his Cabinet said on Wednesday. ...
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should consider passing the baton to his deputy before 2010 to give the ruling coalition time to prepare for the next elections, a member of his Cabinet said on Wednesday.
"I have said it myself that 2010 is too long," International Trade and Industry Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in response to a question from a reporter on the sidelines of a Forbes conference in Singapore.
"PM may have to rethink whether the deadline is tenable."
Prime Minister Abdullah promised to hand power over to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2010 after Malaysia's opposition won an unprecedented 82 seats in the 222-member Parliament during general elections in March.
Muhyiddin is a vice president in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the dominant party in Malaysia's Barisan Nasional government, which has led the country since Independence in 1957. He said the current arrangement created uncertainty and may hinder the party's preparations for the next elections due by 2013.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had said he is seeking to win over 30 defectors from the ruling coalition to form a new government by his self-imposed deadline of Sept 16, but has since said he is flexible about the date.
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should consider passing the baton to his deputy before 2010 to give the ruling coalition time to prepare for the next elections, a member of his Cabinet said on Wednesday.
"I have said it myself that 2010 is too long," International Trade and Industry Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in response to a question from a reporter on the sidelines of a Forbes conference in Singapore.
"PM may have to rethink whether the deadline is tenable."
Prime Minister Abdullah promised to hand power over to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2010 after Malaysia's opposition won an unprecedented 82 seats in the 222-member Parliament during general elections in March.
Muhyiddin is a vice president in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the dominant party in Malaysia's Barisan Nasional government, which has led the country since Independence in 1957. He said the current arrangement created uncertainty and may hinder the party's preparations for the next elections due by 2013.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had said he is seeking to win over 30 defectors from the ruling coalition to form a new government by his self-imposed deadline of Sept 16, but has since said he is flexible about the date.
© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved