Mahathir Demands Meeting to Oust Malaysia's Abdullah - Bloomberg

By Manirajan Ramasamy

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Former Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad called for an emergency meeting of the nation's biggest political party to oust Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi following the government's worst ever election showing.

``Only when we reject this leadership can we reform the party,'' Mahathir, 82, told a 2,000-strong gathering of mainly party members outside Kuala Lumpur today. ``It's OK if once in a while you betray or challenge the leadership. Don't be afraid.'' Abdullah has no comment, said a spokesman at his office who declined to be identified.

Mahathir, calling Abdullah ``shameless'' for not resigning, needs the party's support to oust the man he picked to succeed him. Public demands for change are mounting in Malaysia as an opposition alliance, buoyed by unprecedented election gains, woos government lawmakers in a bid to topple the coalition.

The United Malays National Organisation, Abdullah's party and the main component of the National Front coalition, should change its constitution at a special gathering to make it easier for leadership challenges, Mahathir said today. UMNO, as the party is called, needs a new leader by December, he said.

Abdullah, 68, is under ``intense and localized pressure from within,'' said Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, a political analyst at Universiti Malaya. ``He won't go down without a fight.''

Abdullah has said he has the government's support and will remain in power. UMNO will hold leadership elections as scheduled by the end of this year, Muhyiddin Yassin, a party vice president, said on March 27.

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