Sarah Palin to step down as governor of Alaska

Former Republican United States vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Saturday announced that she will resign as Alaska's governor, fuelling speculation that the charismatic leader will seek presidency in 2012.

The sudden announcement by the 45-year-old former beauty queen, who was John McCain's running mate in last year's failed presidential campaign, will free her to build a national political team and travel the country in support of an expected bid for the White House in 2012, analysts said.

Speaking from her home town of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin said she will not seek election to a second term in 2010.

She was considered one of the front-runners for the presidential nomination in 2012. "I'm taking my fight for what's right in a new direction," Palin said, as her family looked on.

Palin did not reveal what she intended to do after leaving office, and did not offer an explicit reason for her decision not to run for re-election.

But in a written statement, she made it clear that once she had decided not to run again, she did not want to hang on in office until her term expired in 2010.

"Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional Lame Duck status in this particular climate would just be another dose of politics as usual, something I campaigned against and will always oppose," she said.

"People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska," Palin said.

"Serving her people is the greatest honour I could imagine."

Palin was elected governor of oil-rich Alaska in 2006. Palin said she was transferring authority to Lt Governor Sean Parnell, who will be sworn in on July 26.

After Palin's unexpected announcement, the Democratic National Committee blasted her "bizarre behaviour."

"Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long-shot national political ambitions, or she simply can't handle the job now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues are down," DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said.

"Either way, her decision to abandon her post and the people of Alaska who elected her continues a pattern of bizarre behaviour that more than anything else may explain the decision she made today," Woodhouse said.

CNN Republican strategist Mary Matalin said she thought the move was "really brilliant" on Palin's part, though she admitted she was surprised when she heard the news.

"Her delivery was incredible. If you're a less charismatic person, you probably couldn't pull it off," Matalin said.

Palin catapulted on the national stage in American politics when McCain chose her as his running mate.

Image: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin , on Saturday announcing that she will resign this month and will not run for re-election

Photograph: Reuters / KTUU-TV  Text: PTI