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May 20, 2008
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Tuesday
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Jamadi-ul-Awwal 14, 1429
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Mahathir quits ruling party
KUALA LUMPUR, May 19: Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad quit the ruling party UMNO on Monday in a move observers said could help unseat the embattled government of his successor Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Mahathir said he was resigning in protest over Abdullah’s refusal to step down after March elections that produced the worst results in the history of the United Malays National Organisation. “I declare today that I am leaving UMNO,” he said to deafening cheers from some 1,000 political supporters in his home state of Kedah.
Mahathir urged other party members to follow his lead, in a call analysts said could herald a mass exodus that could potentially split the party and topple the government.
“One way is for us to leave the party in large numbers. This doesn’t mean that we should join the opposition.
This is the only power that we have in our hands,” the 82-year-old political veteran said.—AFP
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