The son of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad resigned as the top leader of a federal state on Wednesday, saying he was ousted because he had criticized Prime Minister Najib Razak over a $700 million financial scandal.
Mukhriz Mahathir said he had lost majority support in the Kedah State Assembly following a party bid to remove him as CM. Mahathir has been leading calls for Najib to step down, and Mukriz’s ouster was seen as a continuing purge of critics in Najib’s Government.
The PMO said Mukhriz lost majority support because of a lack of confidence in his leadership and concerns that better preparations were needed for the party to retain the state in general elections due in 2018.