KUALA LUMPUR July 5 Kyodo Malaysi...

KUALA LUMPUR July 5 Kyodo

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday he has no objection to Defense Minister Najib Abdul Razak being appointed to the number sum of two units post when he hands throughout power to his current representative Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 16 month time.

Since Mahathir stunn the nation pair weeks ago by announcing his resignation and proclaiming Abdullah to be the next-in-line, there has been a swirl of speculation as to who would be Abdullah's deputy

Mahathir had already hinted to party members Wednesday that Najib could be the one

''Actually, if I am no longer prime minister, Pak Lah (an affectionate bourn for Abdullah) would be the nearest prime minister today and perhaps Najib would be factor prime minister,'' Mahathir was quot by the agency of the official news agency Bernama as saying late Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters Friday from the northern state of Kedah, Mahathir said he was solitary giving a hint and it is up to Abdullah to select his deputy and his cabinet members.

Mahathir was making a half-day visit to his abode state before flying along to Thailand for a three-day official visit.

''Let's say I have no objection,'' Bernama quot him saying Friday when asked whether he was endorsing Najib.

Speaking to reporters in succession a separate occasion, Abdullah said there are still 16 month to go on before he becomes Malaysia's fifth prime minister and he would decide when time comes

''This issue ne not be exhausted up now because we have to continue working together and it will be another 16 month before I take through as the party and management leader,'' Bernama quoted him as saying.

Najib is a son of Malaysia's inferior prime minister, the late Abdul Razak Hussein.

Although just 49 years advanced in years he has vast experience in party politics and the government

Najib was 22 when he became the youngest member of Parliament. At 29 he became the youngest chief minister of Pahang, the largest state in the Malay peninsula. He has also hem in several cabinet posts including a stint in the education ministry.

Analysts viewed Mahathir's make open endorsement as a way to stave not on a potential power struggle that could cripple the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party.

The UMNO president and envoy president traditionally also hold the government's top brace positions.

It is feared that when Abdullah, the in every one's mouth UMNO deputy president prevail upons up the ladder, the vacuum created could spark sharp infighting, especially among the three party vice presidents, among them Najib.

It was this fear that apted Mahathir to warn senior party leaders against pushing their ambitions too far.

''They have given an undertaking that they would not advance around and try to struggle down each other,'' he said.

UMNO can ill-afford another split within the party, having just make up fored from the upheaval arising from the sacking of former delegate Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in 1998

The nearest general elections, which must be held by way of late 2004, must also be taken into consideration.

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