Najib, wife barred from leaving Malaysia

The corruption scandal revolves around a state fund, known as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, commonly known as 1MDB.

Malaysian authorities barred ousted Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife from leaving the country on Saturday, amid reports that the government was reopening investigations into a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal at a state fund he founded.

Mr Mahathir, who is due to name his cabinet later on Saturday, has indicated that Mohamed Apandi would be axed for hiding evidence of wrongdoing.

Najib has not publicly reacted to the election result.

Mr Najib and 1MDB deny any wrongdoing.

Riot police officers stand guard outside an entrance to Subang airport near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 12, 2018. “I understand how they feel because our children, our family had reservations in the beginning”. “I will then study it”.

The U.S. Department of Justice claims billions were siphoned from the fund, which was first set up in 2009 to support infrastructure in Malaysia. Mr Low helped bankroll the latter’s successful venture into Hollywood film production with The Wolf of Wall Street.

“This is a repudiation of Najib’s government from all walks of life from the very rural northern states to the more industrial southern coast”, said Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia expert at John Cabot University in Rome.

A recently passed “fake news” law was an attempt to stifle debate and criticism, opponents said.

Since 1974, the finance minister had been a Muslim Malay. The 92-year-old leader was sworn in as Malaysia’s seventh prime minister on Thursday.

Anwar, 70, was expected to succeed Mahathir but was prosecuted and jailed in 1999 on allegations of corruption and sodomy, which were widely believed to be politically motivated. He also named former Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as home affairs minister and Mohamad Sabu as defense minister.

Later Saturday, Najib told a news conference that he was stepping down as president of the United Malays National Organization and as chairman of the National Front coalition to take responsibility for Wednesday’s election debacle.

“As far as we know, there are no scheduled flights on our jets today”, he said.

Mr Lim hinted that the new administration would take a second look at deals entered into by his predecessors with Chinese interests, another sensitive issue with many voters.

Before Anwar, 70, can serve in a high office, Mahatir said, he’ll need to become a member of Parliament – and, he warned, “That might take a long time”. We are hopeful that after a brief period of adjustment, Malaysia will continue to do the same. “Our focus is to help Malaysians”.

According to Mahathir, the team will assist in shaping up policies and programmes to achieve the 100-day promise that PH had made to the people.

Those plans will undermine efforts to curb the budget deficit, economists have cautioned.