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(Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi rejected calls to step down after his predecessor quit the Malaysian governing party on Monday, a move that could undermine its hold on power.
Mahathir bin Mohamad, who chose Abdullah to take his place in 2003, said that he would not return to the United Malays National Organization until the prime minister left, adding to political uncertainty that could roil financial markets. "Why should I?" Abdullah said in response to a reporter's question on Mahathir's call for him to resign. "I have work to do, I will continue to work," he said, adding that he was shocked at Mahathir's resignation. It was not immediately clear whether Mahathir, 82, who led the United Malays National Organization for 22 years, would form a splinter party to challenge the party, but analysts said the move was aimed at jolting the party to act against Abdullah and to preserve Mahathir's legacy. Mahathir stepped up pressure for Abdullah to resign after UMNO and the coalition that it leads made a dismal showing in the general election in March. His departure from the party came three days after Abdullah ordered the attorney general to investigate Mahathir and several others on possible offences over the appointment of judges while Mahathir was in power. If United Malays lawmakers quit the party en masse and declare themselves independents, it could mean that no party commands a clear majority in Parliament. "I will not be an UMNO member as long as Abdullah remains as an UMNO president," Mahathir said in his home state of Kedah, using the party's initials. He said that he had lost confidence in its ability to safeguard the interest of the ethnic Malay majority. Mahathir urged other party members to quit but not to join the opposition, which is seeking to seize power from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition by wooing defectors. Former Agriculture Minister Sanusi Junid said he had also quit the party. But former Trade Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said he would stay to challenge Abdullah in internal party polls expected in December.
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