17 January 2000

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should face an election for the top two ruling party posts in May, a former deputy premier said Monday.

Abdul Ghafar Baba is the most influential member so far to express disagreement with the decision by party leaders that Mahathir and Deputy Premier Abdullah should be unopposed as UMNO president and deputy president when the party meets to choose its senior leaders.

Some lower-level members of the United Malays National Organisation have described the announcement by the Supreme Council on January 3 as undemocratic.

UMNO is the dominant party in the ruling National Front coalition and its president and deputy president are automatically prime minister and deputy premier.

But the deputy presidency has been vacant since Mahathir sacked deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim in September 1998 and the party expelled him. Abdullah took over as deputy premier but has yet to be confirmed in the UMNO number two post.

The Supreme Council's stand, which Mahathir says is only "advice" to members, gave Abdullah's status as Mahathir's preferred successor a big boost.

Mahathir, 74, says this will be his last term. His National Front kept its two-thirds parliamentary majority in the November 29 election but UMNO took only 72 seats compared to 94 in the last parliament.

Ghafar, himself effectively ousted as deputy president by Anwar in 1993, said the posts of president and deputy president would be stronger if endorsed directly by party members.

"This does not mean I don't like Mahathir and Dollah Badawi -- but I love UMNO more," Ghafar, also 74, was quoted by the state Bernama news agency as saying.

"No harm if they continue to lead the party, but it is better if their leadership is endorsed by the members."

Ghafar, who said he was not formally opposing the Supreme Council's stand, said UMNO suffered an election setback and changes must be made to strengthen it.

"Through (party) elections, the spirit of UMNO members can be fired up," he said, adding that a contest for the two top positions would help restore people's confidence in the party.

Ghafar, deputy premier from 1986-93, has won a seat in all 10 general elections. He said many young people joining the party wanted to take part in decision-making.

"UMNO is not only important to the Malays but also to all races. We must not allow UMNO to become weak or die. UMNO must be there all the time," he said.