Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is due to retire at the end of October, urged senior leaders of his ruling Barisan Nasional coalition to step aside to make way for new blood.

Mahathir, who has been in power for 22 years, said the senior politicians should also campaign for the victory of their fresher counterparts the next general election, tipped for December or early 2004.

The 77-year-old leader said in an interview with the Bernama news agency that he had previously been too "embarrassed to tell them that it was time for them to step down."

"They could have turned around and said, 'What about you?' Now I can tell them that you can stay on only for so long. You can't stay forever, you can't stay until you die in office."

No overstaying

Mahathir did not identify the leaders he was referring to.

He said he would back the party's younger members at the polls.

"That's what I think we should all do. I am going to do just that. I need to help the elections even though I am not a candidate.

"I believe that after some time, you can't stay, you are burnt out," he said.

Mahathir, Asia's longest-serving elected leader, has said he was taught by his mother to leave when things are rosy and not overstay his welcome.

He has had been credited for transforming Malaysia from an agriculture-based economy to one of Asia's richest countries, with strong a electronics sector and home to the world's tallest buildings, the Petronas Twin Towers.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 62, is take over from Mahathir. - AFP