KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad quit the ruling party UMNO Monday in a move observers said undermined the embattled government of his successor Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Mahathir said in a speech that he was resigning in protest over Abdullah's refusal to step down despite March elections that produced the worst results in the history of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).
"Mahathir has resigned from UMNO in protest over Pak Lah's continued leadership as both the prime minister and president of UMNO," Mahathir's son Mokhzani told AFP, referring to Abdullah by his nickname.
"He will also write a letter to the UMNO secretary-general to inform him of his resignation," he told AFP. The veteran leader made the announcement in a speech in his home state Kedah.
News website Malaysiakini quoted Mahathir as urging all UMNO ministers and party leaders to follow his lead and return only when Abdullah had departed.
"Wait till Abdullah quits as the prime minister and party president and then we can return to UMNO," he reportedly said.
Mahathir ruled Malaysia for 22 years until 2003 when he picked Abdullah as his successor. Within months the two had fallen out and Mahathir began accusing him of corruption, nepotism and mismanagement.
Since the March elections, which saw the UMNO-led coalition lose five states and a third of parliamentary seats to the opposition, he has actively campaigned for Abdullah to step down but prime minister has refused to budge.
Shahrir Samad, a cabinet minister and senior UMNO member, said Mahathir's surprise move could trigger a flurry of resignations from the embattled party that could force Abdullah to hold fresh general elections.
"By Tun doing this it could cause a situation where many other UMNO lawmakers might resign," Shahrir said, using Mahathir's honorific title.
"If this happens then the government has no choice but to form a new government or call a fresh general election," the domestic trade and consumer affairs minister told AFP.
"Certainly it is not helpful or constructive to the struggle of UMNO right now," he said, as the party fends off a challenge from opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim who says he could soon seize power with the help of defectors.
Shahrir said that while Anwar was threatening to snatch lawmakers from UMNO's coalition partners, Mahathir could chip away at the ranks of the ruling party itself.
UMNO-watcher Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, a political analyst from the National University of Malaysia, said the resignation was a body blow to Abdullah's chances of clinging on to power.
"Mahathir has just pulled the carpet under his feet because when he leaves UMNO I believe many more will follow, especially the elder members of UMNO," he said.
Shamsul said Abdullah was totally discredited within his party, and protected from ouster only by tight rules for posing a challenge, which Mahathir himself introduced.
"Within UMNO he has no control at all. He's a bit like a horse that has lost its rider," he said.
Mahathir's departure would also make it easier for coalition lawmakers to defect to Anwar, he said, adding that it was increasingly likely that fresh elections would need to be called to resolve the mess.
Mahathir, 82, joined UMNO at its inception in 1946 and has since then weathered a number of storms including his expulsion in 1969 and a 1988 crisis when the party was declared illegal.
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