Transfer of power begins in Malaysia

Putrajaya (Malaysia), Apr.2 (ANI): The transition of power from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to Najib Tun Razak begins Thursday as he has an audience with the King to seek permission to resign.

He will also ask the King's consent to appoint Najib as the country's sixth Prime Minister, The Star reports.

Reporters and a small group of people gathered outside the palace as Abdullah drove in to meet the Yang diPertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin who had arrived minutes earlier.

Deputy Prime Minister Razak is expected to be sworn in as prime minister on Friday in a planned power transition that has been one year in the making.

The King has already consented to Najib's appointment, the government's chief secretary, Mohamad Sidek Hassan, had said.

Abdullah, who became the the country's fifth premier in October 2003, was pressured to step down after the ruling National Front coalition suffered its worst results in the March 8 general elections last year when it lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament. (ANI)