Malaysia's most powerful political party expelled two key figures for throwing their support behind the opposition just days ahead of a closely-fought election, the state news agency reported Saturday. Prime Minister Najib Razak's United Malays National Organisation (Umno) sacked the pair after they backed veteran ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad's bid to take power in the May 9 polls at the head of an opposition alliance.
Mahathir, 92, wants to unseat former protege Najib in the toughest poll campaign the country has seen in years. He has drawn attention to the alleged billions of dollars looted from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, which Najib founded. Both Najib and the fund deny any wrongdoing.
Official news agency Bernama reported Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor saying he sacked Daim Zainuddin and Rafidah Aziz - former finance and international trade ministers respectively - on Friday for their criticism of the party.
"When she (Rafidah) went on stage at an opposition rally, I immediately asked for the letter of expulsion to be sent to her, as well as to Daim," he said. All three served under Mahathir during his 22 year rule as Malaysia's Prime Minister.