MALAYSIAN PRIME minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced yesterday that he will step down in March, paving the way for his deputy, Najib Razak, to take over the premiership, but falling short of resolving a growing political crisis in the southeast Asian country.
The move averts the possibility of a split in Mr Abdullah's United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party, which forms the core of the National Front coalition that has ruled Malaysia since it became independent in 1957.
By tradition, the UMNO leader is also Malaysia's prime minister.
Mr Abdullah had been fighting for his political life since he led the government to its worst yet performance in a general election last March. "In all my years of service, I have always been guided by my conscience . . . and I do not want a divided party and governing coalition, but one that is united and harmonious," said Mr Abdullah, whose term expires in 2013.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's multiracial coalition, the People's Alliance, won an unprecedented 82 seats in the 222-member parliament in the March polls, tapping into rising dissatisfaction with the government.
Mr Anwar was heir apparent to former premier Mahathir Mohamad until 1998, when he was sacked and charged for corruption and sodomy. He is currently on trial on renewed charges of "voluntarily committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and faces 20 years in jail if convicted. He says the charges are politically motivated.
Mr Anwar claims he has won over enough government legislators to win power, although he has not named his supporters in the government.
Mr Abdullah's successor is not seen as having the political strength needed to reform the economy and win back lost ground from the opposition, and is likely to create a power vacuum at a time when racial tensions in the southeast Asian country of 27 million people are high.
Mr Najib is the son of one prime minister and nephew of another, and is a staunch defender of ethnic Malay rights.
Chinese and Indians blame government affirmative action policies favouring Malays, who account for 60 per cent of the population, for causing social tensions.
Mr Najib is not popular among ethnic Chinese and Indians, and has been tainted by allegations linking him to the death of a Mongolian model, who was shot and then blown to pieces in the jungle in a case that has scandalised the nation.
The global financial crisis is expected to hit Malaysia's export-driven economy hard. Inflation reached a 27-year high this month and growth forecasts for next year have been cut to 3 per cent from 5 per cent.