Malaysian premier to make way for successor

ANKARA

Malaysia's incumbent premier announced on Thursday that he would make way for his successor to take his place, without giving a specific time frame.

"I have agreed that Anwar [Ibrahim] will take over from me and I would adhere to my agreement. During the formation of the PH [Pakatan Harapan] coalition, it was agreed that it would be led by me as the chairman," Mahathir Mohamad said.

Addressing the 25th International Conference on "The Future of Asia" conference in Tokyo, Mahathir said the parties had previously decided his term would be limited to "a certain time", Malaysia’s Bernama news agency reported.

"[I] will step down after a certain time for me to put the economy back in order," he added, underlining that the actual time had not been "spelled out".

Mahathir said the Malaysian economy is by far the "biggest and most pressing issue" to be settled before the power transition.

"We need to reduce the borrowings to a certain level," he said.