MALAYSIA: Malaysian Prime Minister Mr Mahathir Mohamad's retraction of his shock resignation on Saturday was only to give other party leaders time to work out the transition of power, a senior ruling party source said.
Asia's longest serving leader believed the time was right to step down after 21 years in power and he would go through with his resignation, the source in the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) said.
In an extraordinary weekend, the leader of the main Islamic opposition died and his successor is to be a religious firebrand who denounces Mr Mahathir for keeping mostly-Muslim Malaysia secular.
Mr Mahathir (76) is seen as a progressive Muslim leader, and a bulwark against hardline Islamists in a country where Muslims are only narrowly in the majority.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, will now have to fulfil that role, as he will certainly take over the premiership at some point soon, said the UMNO source, who asked not to be named. "That seems to be the position as we're hearing it too," one western diplomat said.
Mr Mahathir flew to Italy yesterday for a 10-day holiday after a meeting with other UMNO leaders.
The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, meanwhile, was to hold a supreme council meeting to clarify the political situation, the official Bernama news agency said.
Bernama said Mr Abdullah had told reporters that the meeting would take place "as soon as possible" so as to allay any confusion about Saturday's events.
A sobbing Mr Mahathir rocked the UMNO general assembly on Saturday by announcing he was quitting all party and coalition posts. The speech was carried live on national television.
Within an hour, Mr Abdullah and other party leaders had talked him into staying on, but sources say Mr Mahathir told them privately he was adamant he would hand over power.
Diplomats said they were puzzled why Mr Mahathir had resigned and then retracted if he really intended to go.