Dr Mahathir Mohamad urges party members to follow suit. — Bernama pic
Mahathir resigns, deepening cracks in Umno
Latest: Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, a party veteran, also leaves Umno
KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 — Influential former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad quit Umno today after a long feud with his successor, deepening the cracks that appeared after the party's recent massive electoral losses.
Dr Mahathir's son Datuk Mokhzani said his father was leaving Umno with "immediate effect."
He said his father's decision was a sign of no confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is fighting for political survival with many party members calling for his resignation to take responsibility for the losses in the March 8 general elections.
"He has asked other members of the party to follow suit," Mokhzani, a businessman, said. He said the former leader made the announcement in a speech in his home state of Kedah.
The decision raises the possibility of large-scale desertions by loyalists, which could split the party – one that has been in power since Malaysia's independence from Britain in 1957 – and eventually bring down the government.
The 82-year-old Mahathir has been waging a war of words against Abdullah for more than two years, but he had given no indication that he would quit the party. Instead, he had been urging party members to rebel against the prime minister.
Mokhzani declined to comment on how the development could play out or on his father's future plans. He said Mahathir would only come back to the party if its leadership changes.
A senior Umno leader dismissed suggestions that the party would break up, saying Mahathir's departure "is not that important." He indicated that the party was glad to be rid of Mahathir's disruptive influence.
"I welcome his decision. It is high time for him" to leave, said Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, a Cabinet minister and a member of Umno's supreme council.
"He is old enough to decide. He has every right to do it but he shouldn't urge members to follow him. It's up to the members."
Mahathir appointed Abdullah to succeed him in 2003, when Mahathir retired after 22 years as prime minister. But he remained active in politics, wielding significant influence among the party's grass-roots workers.
By late 2004 Mahathir began accusing Abdullah of nepotism, corruption and inefficiency. Party insiders say Mahathir was angry because many big infrastructure projects he had initiated were cancelled by Abdullah.
Some of the allegations of economic mismanagement resonated with Malaysians who were being buffeted by increasing inflation, however. Also, Abdullah's promise to fight corruption had shown few results.
The disenchantment with the government resulted in massive loss of popularity for the ruling National Front coalition, which is dominated by Umno. It saw its traditional two-thirds majority in Parliament massively reduced to a simple majority in the March elections.
An Opposition alliance of three parties led by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made spectacular gains in the elections, winning 82 seats in the country's 222-member parliament, up from 19 seats the three parties controlled previously. The coalition also won control of five of Malaysia's 13 states. — AP
I agree with Shahril, Mukhriz should follow suit, then Khir Toyo and those strong supporters of TDM. Umno will be stronger without them. Kudos
ReplyDeleteIn the short term Umno will be at its weakest point in its history. There will be so many cracks that, like Raja Petra said, it might be too late to save a party drowning for the 3rd time.
ReplyDeleteUmno or any party for that matter, will definitely be better off with less or no corrupt leaders in it. It will be the beginning of a less corrupt government for Malaysia, it doesn't matter whether it is BN or PR. RPK's vision is best. The government of the day having 55% and the opposition the rest, together with the independent judiciary.