Malaysia's former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi leaves the King's palace in Kuala Lumpur, on April 2, 2009.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian monarch has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, setting the stage for reforms promised by his successor Najib Razak. Abdullah stepped down on Thursday amid accusations that he had failed to honor his promises of fighting corruption and reforming the justice system.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian monarch has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, setting the stage for reforms promised by his successor Najib Razak. Abdullah stepped down on Thursday amid accusations that he had failed to honor his promises of fighting corruption and reforming the justice system. His deputy, Najib Razak, is reportedly planning large-scale political and economic reforms to help the country weather its first recession after ten years. King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin met Abdullah and then Najib finalize the long-awaited transition.
"His [Najib's] major clear clarion call is a call for change from the politics to the economics side," Zainal Aznam Yusof, an adviser to the premier on economic issues, told Reuters on Thursday.
However, the ruling Umno party that has been in power throughout the country's five-decade-long independence is divided internally, a setback that could undermine Najib Razak's term in office.
The embattled premier's resignation didn't come as a shock to many as he had been fighting off calls to quit after he led the ruling coalition to disastrous results in the March 8 general elections. The Front lost five out of 13 states to the opposition - led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim - and failed to secure a two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time in the country's 51-year history.
Abdullah decision to quit four years before the end of his term as prime minister was to safeguard the unity of party and the nation.
"I have always placed the interest of the nation above all else. It is with this in mind that I announce that I will not stand for the presidency of UMNO. "I do not want a divided party and governing coalition but one that is united and harmonious," he said.
"This is not the time for infighting and narrow politics but for greatness, unity and cooperation," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
Abdullah, 68, had said earlier he would resign by mid-2010, but his critics said it was too long a wait. Last month, he indicated he would step down and hand over power to his deputy Najib Razak.
Courtesy: Press TV and Top News
The embattled premier's resignation didn't come as a shock to many as he had been fighting off calls to quit after he led the ruling coalition to disastrous results in the March 8 general elections. The Front lost five out of 13 states to the opposition - led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim - and failed to secure a two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time in the country's 51-year history.Abdullah decision to quit four years before the end of his term as prime minister was to safeguard the unity of party and the nation.
"I have always placed the interest of the nation above all else. It is with this in mind that I announce that I will not stand for the presidency of UMNO. "I do not want a divided party and governing coalition but one that is united and harmonious," he said.
"This is not the time for infighting and narrow politics but for greatness, unity and cooperation," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
Abdullah, 68, had said earlier he would resign by mid-2010, but his critics said it was too long a wait. Last month, he indicated he would step down and hand over power to his deputy Najib Razak.
Courtesy: Press TV and Top News
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