KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31: An ally of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called on Tuesday for ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad to be stripped of all government-linked positions as punishment for scathing criticism of his successor.

Debate is raging within the ruling United Malays National Organisation over whether to dump Mr Mahathir as an adviser to national oil company Petronas, car maker Proton and the development authority on Langkawi Island.

The party's powerful supreme council is expected to address the issue of retaliation against Mr Mahathir — who has hurled accusations of corruption, nepotism and mismanagement against Mr Abdullah — at its meeting on Thursday.

“(Mahathir) must be sacked immediately from all positions linked to the government. Similar action must also be taken against all of his supporters,” said Ahmad Darus, youth chief of Mr Abdullah's constituency.

“Each and every UMNO member must realise that we must obey just one president, and that president is Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,” said Ahmad.

Ahmad hit out at Mr Mahathir's heightened criticism after the failure of supposed `peace talks’ which the prime minister agreed to a week ago.

“He used it (the talks) to condemn Abdullah openly and this shows that Mahathir had a hidden agenda. In actual fact, what Mahathir is doing today is not criticising Abdullah — he wants to see Abdullah quit his post,” he said in a statement.—AFP