The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has admitted he may not seek re-election as ruling party leader in March polls, indicating he could quit well before a planned transition in 2010.

Abdullah spoke after an emergency meeting of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) on Friday, over the plan to transfer power to his deputy Najib Razak in two years, which has caused a rift within the party.

The embattled prime minister said UMNO leadership elections scheduled for December would be postponed until March and that he would make an announcement in the next few weeks on whether he would bid for the top job.

"I have not made any decision as far as this particular point is concerned," he said. "The decision is mine, you can go on guessing. As far as I'm concerned I love the party."

Traditionally the president of UMNO-which leads a multi-racial coalition and has dominated Malaysian politics for half a century-becomes the prime minister.

But Abdullah admitted that several members of UMNO's Supreme Council were pushing him to quit and said the party leadership polls had been postponed "to help facilitate an early transition".

The premier-whose popularity has plummeted over broken promises for reform and accusations of economic mismanagement-has been in the firing line since March elections that handed the opposition unprecedented gains.

He is also fending off a bid to topple the government by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who says he has the support of enough defecting lawmakers to form a new administration.

Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, one of the cabinet members pushing for a revamped leadership, indicated that the 2010 handover plan was now abandoned.