KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has no plans to resign, his spokesman said on Sunday, despite leading the ruling coalition to its worst ever election results.

'He has no intention to step down,' the premier's spokesman Kamal Khalid told AFP, although he admitted the premier was 'surprised' by the scale of the setback.

'He has actually received quite a lot of support from senior party leaders and he is still on track to be sworn in tomorrow,' he added.

Mr Abdullah is facing growing calls to quit after the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition lost its two-thirds majority in parliament for the first time since 1969 and conceded four states to the resurgent opposition.

'The PM was surprised by the losses on Saturday, but having said that, although the government has not received a two-thirds majority, it was very close and the BN can still form the government,' his spokesman insisted.

However Mr Abdullah was savaged by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who handed over to Abdullah in 2003 after two decades leading the United National Malays Organisation (UMNO) which dominates the coalition.

'My view is he has destroyed UMNO, destroyed the BN and he has been responsible for this,' Dr Mahathir told reporters.

He suggested Mr Abdullah should resign, and admitted he had made a mistake in selecting him as prime minister.

'I think he should accept responsibility for this. He should accept 100 per cent responsibility,' he said. 'I am sorry but I apparently made the wrong choice.'

Mr Abdullah won 91 per cent of parliamentary seats in the 2004 elections, but analysts said he was being punished this time for high inflation, rising crime and mounting ethnic tensions.

He has also faced flak for failing to act on election promises to eradicate corruption.

Former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, who has now emerged as the opposition figurehead a decade after he was sacked and jailed, said the results defeated the 'myth' that the ruling party was invincible.

'I can see some leadership turmoil happening in UMNO. They will have to reinvent by focusing on leadership change,' he said.

Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asian expert at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, said it was a 'very tense' time for the party as it digested a vote that was a mandate for reform.

'The factions in UMNO are already asking for Badawi's resignation and this is a very significant development,' she said, who is currently in Malaysia.

'It's going to be very, very difficult for him to stay in power. The warlords in the system will push him because his administration has failed to address the voters' issues.'

Mukhriz Mahathir, the former premier's son and a member of UMNO's powerful youth wing who was elected to parliament for first time on the weekend, urged Abdullah to 'do the right thing'.

'It is yet to be seen what he will do but I think it's a very clear message that there is wholesale dissatisfaction with the prime minister for the way he has been running the country these four years,' he said.

'I hope he takes heed of that message and does the right thing,' he told AFP. 'We need to really do some soul searching.'

Ibrahim Suffian, of the Merdeka Centre research firm, said Mr Abdullah faced a torrid time at UMNO party elections later this year if he did not resign.

'There will be some tough questions asked there,' he said.

Under UMNO tradition, Mr Najib is heir apparent to Mr Abdullah and expected to become Malaysia's next prime minister, but Ms Welsh said other contenders could emerge in a leadership battle. -- AFP

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