Malaysia’s new prime minister said Saturday he “prevented” his predecessor from leaving the country.
Mahathir Mohamad said he is responsible for slapping a travel ban on former Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife. The Associated Press reports that a leaked flight manifesto showed Najib and his wife were scheduled to leave on a private jet Saturday for Jakarta.
Mahathir, who is 92, said the government has found “sufficient evidence” in connection with Najib’s involvement with a massive corruption scandal.
Najib announced on Facebook that he was going on vacation, but would return after a week, sparking rumors that he was attempting to escape possible prosecution.
He denies any wrongdoing.
Also Saturday the daughter of Anwar Ibrahim told news outlets that the opposition leader will be released from prison Tuesday and receive a full royal pardon.
Anwar is in prison on corruption and sodomy charges that were widely denounced as politically motivated.
Anwar had served as deputy prime minister and finance minister in Mahathir’s government and was seen as Mahathir’s heir-apparent until he was fired in 1999.
Najib received a drubbing in Wednesday’s general election, losing to Mahathir, who is now the world’s oldest elected official.
Najib resigned Saturday as the president of UMNO, the ethnic Malay party that has ruled Malaysia since its birth as an independent country in 1957, and
as leader of the Barisan Nasional coalition that was ousted in the general election. (voanews)
