KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Asia's longest-serving democratically-elected leader, plans to step down Oct. 31 after 22 years in power.
This is the first time he has given a specific date for his retirement, the BBC reported.
Dr. M, as Mahathir is known, told reporters that although he is healthy, he had been prime minister for too long. He promised to hand over office to his deputy and anointed successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Mahathir tried to quit in June last year but was forced to come back at his party's annual conference. He agreed to stay on for a further 16 months.
The prime minister has been increasingly outspoken in recent months, even by his own blunt standards, attacking Washington over the war in Iraq and calling for the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council to give up their right of veto, the BBC said.
