By Manirajan Ramasamy and Soraya Permatasari
Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he plans to step down in March, 12 months into a five-year term, as his weakened ruling coalition tries to repel a resurgent opposition's attempts to take power.
Abdullah, 68, won't defend his post as head of the United Malays National Organisation, the largest group in the alliance, at next year's party elections, he said today in Kuala Lumpur. He plans to hand over to his deputy, Najib Razak.
Malaysia's government faces an emboldened opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim, who says he has gained support from enough ruling coalition lawmakers to topple the government. Abdullah and Najib have rejected that claim and called Anwar's campaign for power, including a pledge to scrap Malaysia's preferential policies for the ethnic Malay majority, a threat to the multiethnic country's economy and security.
``Najib may be able to do more than Abdullah to stay in power,'' said Mary Magdaline Pereira, associate professor of policy studies at Malaysia's Universiti Teknologi Mara. The National Front coalition, in power since Malaysia's independence in 1957, lost a record number of parliamentary seats and its two-thirds majority in this year's March general election.
To remain as prime minister until the party elections, Abdullah will still have to fend off a possible vote of confidence. Last month, with parliament in recess, Anwar demanded an emergency session to vote against Abdullah and his administration. The prime minister refused and said Anwar would have to wait until the house resumes on Oct. 13.
Political Father
Abdullah had previously announced a June 2010 transition of power to Najib, 55, saying he wanted to rid the judiciary of any perception of corruption and tackle graft in the government.
Najib entered parliament at the age of 22 to represent the district that had been held by his father -- Malaysia's second prime minister.
In a video message on his Web site, Najib has pledged to restore confidence in Malaysia's public institutions and ``to work for the change'' that the public demanded in this year's election. Echoing promises made by Anwar, Najib said on his blog that new policies are needed to help Malaysians on the basis of need rather than ethnicity.
Still, Najib said the ruling coalition's grouping of parties representing Malaysia's races is the best formula for unity. Malaysia's 27 million population is mostly Malay, and the largest ethnic minorities are Chinese and Indian. All three groups have parties in the National Front coalition.
`Squatters'
Political and racial tensions have risen since Anwar's three-party People's Alliance won control of an unprecedented five of Malaysia's 13 states and fell 30 seats short of ousting the coalition from the 222-member parliament.
A junior official of Najib's United Malays National Organisation in August was reported calling ethnic Chinese citizens ``squatters,'' leading to an outcry by two Chinese- based parties that are part of the ruling coalition. Najib apologized for the comments.
Malaysia's law minister resigned last month after police on Sept. 12 arrested an opposition lawmaker and a reporter under security laws that allow indefinite detention without trial. Both women have since been released.
A blogger who accused Najib of having an affair with a 28- year-old Mongolian interpreter before she was murdered remains imprisoned. Najib denies ever meeting the victim. Abdul Razak Baginda, a political analyst who was once employed by Najib, is on trial for abetting the killing by two police officers.
Anwar faces his own legal challenge in his quest for power: an accusation of illegal sex with a man that may put him in jail for 20 years. A similar charge sent him to prison for six years in 1998, forcing him from a government where he was then deputy leader. That sodomy conviction was overturned in 2004.
Anwar, 61, pleaded not guilty to the latest charge, and claimed it's politically motivated, an allegation both Abdullah and Najib have denied.
To contact the reporters on this story: Manirajan Ramasamy in Kuala Lumpur at rmanirajan@bloomberg.net; Soraya Permatasari in Kuala Lumpur at soraya@bloomberg.net Last Updated: October 8, 2008 06:03 EDT