Malaysia's Mahathir quits over scandals

Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad announced Monday he was quitting the ruling party, saying it had degenerated into an organisation whose sole purpose was to protect scandal-plagued Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Mahathir has for months been a leading voice calling for the ousting of Najib, who is under pressure over allegations that billions of dollars had been pilfered from state firms, and for accepting a mysterious $681 million sum from an overseas source.

"I want to leave UMNO because it is no longer UMNO," Mahathir was quoted saying, referring to the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation which he led as premier from 1981-2003. 

"It is a party dedicated to protecting Najib," the news portal Malaysiakini quoted him saying.

Authorities in several countries are currently investigating money flows centring on a company launched by Najib called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Swiss authorities have said they believe $4 billion may have been stolen from Malaysian state firms and have frozen millions in accounts linked to 1MDB.

After the scandals broke Najib sacked Malaysia's attorney general, who was reported to be preparing charges against the prime minister.

Najib installed his own appointee, who has brought domestic investigations to a halt.

He also purged his cabinet of critics and his government has arrested whistle-blowers and shut down media outlets that reported on the allegations.

Last week authorities began blocking access to The Malaysian Insider, a leading news portal, after it ran a story on the affair. 

Najib's attorney general also recently provoked howls of protest by abruptly clearing the premier of wrongdoing in the $681 million donation.

Through it all, the irascible and still-influential Mahathir has continued to savage Najib, accusing him of corruption, criminal activity and bribing party members to maintain their support and protect him from charges.

But Mahathir's campaign has largely failed to gain traction in a ruling party that analysts say is built on patronage and money politics.