Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced Saturday that he would resign Thursday, paving the way for his deputy to become the country's new premier.

Abdullah said he would seek an audience with Malaysia's constitutional monarch, King Mizan Zainal Abidin, on Thursday to convey his intention to relinquish his post as prime minister.

Abdullah, who has been in office since November 2003, said a ceremony to transfer power to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak would be held later but declined to give a date.

On Thursday, Abdullah stepped down from his position as chief of the country's largest party, the United Malays National Organization, or UMNO.

Najib, 55, won the party's presidency unopposed. Traditionally, the president of UMNO, the most powerful party in the National Front government coalition, becomes the country's prime minister.

Abdullah had been facing mounting pressure to step down after he led the coalition to embarassing defeats in March 2008 general elections.

The National Front suffered unprecedented losses at the hands of the three-party opposition, which managed to seize control of five of the country's 13 states. The Front also failed to retain its two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Najib, who is the son of Malaysia's second prime minister, has pledged to bring reforms to the party and the government to try to regain the public's confidence. (dpa)