Turmoil follows Malaysian PM's bid to resign

Malaysian PM's resignation threat seen as as ploy to strengthen grip on power.

Malaysia's mercurial Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, threw his country into turmoil yesterday by announcing his resignation from his party and the governing coalition, and thus the premiership, then reversing the decision after an hour's pleading by his subordinates.

But after the dust had settled at the annual congress of Mahathir's party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the move appeared little more than a ploy to strengthen his already extremely firm grip on power.

The declaration came at the end of Mahathir's address to 2,000 UMNO loyalists in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. 'I would like to take this opportunity to announce my resignation from my post as UMNO president and all the posts I hold in the party, my resignation as chairman of Barisan Nasional and all posts in the Barisan Nasional,' he said, referring to the National Front coalition.

As the sobbing 76-year-old, who has ruled Malaysia for almost 21 years, sat hunched in his chair on the stage, many of his closest aides, led by the Deputy Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, immediately pleaded with him to reconsider.

'Why?' shouted the International Trade Minister, Rafidah Aziz. 'I have decided,' Mahathir said. 'It's been a long time.' The hall erupted into pandemonium as many people rose and shouted 'Withdraw! Withdraw!' Mahathir was helped to a nearby private room by his wife and a bevy of flunkeys. An hour later, Badawi re-emerged and said: 'After much persuasion... Dr Mahathir has agreed to withdraw his resignation.'

Opposition politicians and political analysts ridiculed Mahathir's theatrics as political grandstanding. 'It was just a cunning plan to mobilise support for himself,' said Dr Syed Husin Ali, head of the Malaysian People's party. 'By doing this he has silenced his critics.' Syed added that if Mahathir were really serious about resigning he should simply quit as Prime Minister.

Professor Jomo Sundaram, of the University of Malaya, said: 'If he is preparing for an orderly transition, he would have done it rather differently. The manner he went about it calls for a lot of scepticism.'