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Malaysian PM postpones party election amid debt controversy, fallout with former mentor

Xinhua, June 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a delay of ruling party election on Friday, as he is tackling with fresh scandal involving a state agency and a fallout with the country's longest serving Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Najib said the party election of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) due next year will be postponed by 18 months.

UMNO has led a multi-racial coalition to govern Malaysia since it gained independence in 1957.

Nabib said the aim of postponement was to have UMNO and the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional better prepared for the next general election.

In the last general election in 2013, the ruling coalition failed to regain the two-third majority in parliament and lost the popular votes to the oppositions.

Najib is under mounting pressure and criticism over reports that the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), a state investment company that he launched after becoming prime minister in 2009, was in massive debt.

Mahathir, a former mentor of Najib, has openly called for the prime minister to resign. Najib denied any wrongdoings and refused to step down.

Australian media recently reported senior officials from a Malaysian government-link agency spent millions in government funds to buy an apartment block in Melbourne, Australia in a property scam.

Najib said Friday that the his government wants the issue to be thoroughly investigated. Endi