Malaysian PM to defend presidency in ruling party election

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak made a wildly expected decision to defend the his president post in the upcoming election of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) next month. Najib told reporters that he made the decision after receiving support from his fellow party members at the grassroots level. UMNO members are expected to cast votes on Oct. 19 to elect the UMNO's Supreme Council and the senior posts. As the dominant party of the ruling coalition, UMNO presidents hold the post of prime minister. Najib took over as UMNO president and prime minister in 2009 after his predecessor Abdullah Badawi was ousted by his party following a poor performance in the 2008 general election. UMNO emerged as a big winner in the May general election as it consolidated its dominant position in the parliament despite that the ruling coalition retained power with a reduced majority. Although some analysts predicted that Najib would face challenge within his party after the election, there had been widespread calls soon after that the posts of Najib as well as his party and government deputy Muhyiddin Yassin should remain unchanged.