Published March 23, 2009

Najib vows to fight vote buying in his party

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(KUALA LUMPUR) Malaysia's incoming prime minister Najib Razak has vowed to fight vote buying in his party in a bid to regain ground after it lost its iron-clad two-thirds majority last year, an official newspaper said yesterday.

Mr Najib, who will become premier after elections in his United Malays National Organisation (Umno) this week, told the party-controlled New Straits Times that the selection process of party leaders had to change to prevent vote buying.

'Umno is seen as a party that practices money politics. How can we tackle this? We have to undertake reforms, including structural reforms that also involve the selection process,' Mr Najib said in an interview.

He is set to be anointed as party president tomorrow, a post which guarantees premiership over the South-east Asian country.

He will lead a government faced with mounting squabbles within the Umno-led ruling coalition, a resurgent opposition and the country's first recession since the Asian financial crisis a decade ago.

Just a week before the party polls, Ali Rustam, the chief minister of southern Malacca state, was barred from standing for the post of deputy leader of Umno and hence deputy prime minister on grounds that he had been buying votes.

But this has sparked concern that supporters of Mr Ali may vote against a person seen as Mr Najib's pick as his deputy, International Trade Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

'When we want to take action against any leader (for vote buying), the ones who will go against it (the decision) would be their supporters,' Mr Najib said in an apparent reference to the recent anti-graft crackdown on Mr Ali.' - Reuters