Najib arrested, his allies have quit. Is Malaysia’s Umno dead and buried?

Former prime minister’s arrest adds to tumult surrounding his party, as it reels from claims Mustapa Mohamed and Anifah Aman may be pawns in Mahathir Mohamad’s power struggle with Anwar Ibrahim

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Pictures of Malaysian leaders at Umno’s offices in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:00pm, 19 Sep 2018Updated: 7:26am, 20 Sep 2018

The Malaysian opposition was left in chaos on Wednesday, when the arrest of disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak on charges related to the troubled state investment fund 1MDB capped a tumultuous two days that saw two of his top lieutenants quit in protest against his party’s courting of hardline Islamists.

Analysts warned a disintegration of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) could now tilt the country towards single-coalition rule, thanks to the incumbent Pakatan Harapan’s largely positive ratings and the lack of a viable opposition.

Umno is the largest party of the Barisan Nasional coalition that had ruled Malaysia for six decades until Mahathir Mohamad’s shock election win in May.

The resignations – which came before Najib’s arrest on Wednesday afternoon on charges relating to an alleged deposit into his personal bank account of 2.6 billion ringgit (US$628 million) of 1MDB funds – signal desperation in opposition parties Umno and PAS (the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party), who are scrambling to win back Malay votes. PAS, which has a conservative stranglehold in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu, had previously promised to introduce an Islamic government if it had come into power during the election.

On Tuesday evening, Umno stalwart Mustapa Mohamed announced his resignation from the party after 40 years. The former cabinet minister said the party had made no effort to rejuvenate itself since its election loss.

Now, we have lost a leading light of our party. A brilliant and good man. This is on you, Mr President

Khairy Jamaluddin