BANGI, MALAYSIA: The Prime Minister is not under any pressure to step down, said Rural and Regional Development Minister Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib.

He said the pressure on Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to retire early might come from one or two individuals only.

"The supreme council has never pushed him (to resign)," he told reporters yesterday after handing over Federal Government allocations to 2,300 religious teachers who taught the basic Fardhu Ain course (Kafa) in Selangor.

A Kafa teacher gets RM500 a month from the Federal Government and RM238 from the Selangor Government.

Muhammad, who is also Umno information chief, said Abdullah?s decision on the power transition in 2010 remained.

"Steps leading up to the transition have already taken place with the announcement of the portfolio swap recently," he said. (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak took over as Finance Minister while Abdullah became Defence Minister on Wednesday)

On claims that former de facto Law Minister Senator Datuk Zaid Ibrahim was pressured to resign from his post as a senator, Muhammad said that it was up to him to keep the position or let go of it.

"These days, his ways are very "un-Umno". But it is up to him as he had been given the position rightfully," he said.

Later in Shah Alam, Muhammad said calls by some of the Umno supreme council members for Abdullah to step down did not in any way mean they supported the Opposition.

Their opinions cannot be construed that they now backed Lim Kit Siang or Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim or their attempts to take over the Government, he said after handing out food packs at the Section 7 surau here yesterday.

In Ipoh, Tambun MP Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said no one should pressure the Prime Minister or his deputy on the transition plan.

"The Prime Minister has the wisdom, so just let him decide," he said after presenting cheques to 27 national schools at Taman Meru here yesterday.

Ahmad Husni, who is vying for the post of Umno supreme council member in the coming party elections, called on party members to stand firm instead of squabbling with each other.