馬來西亞前總理馬哈蒂爾宣佈退出巫統

Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s influential former premier, said on Monday he is quitting the ruling party in protest at alleged “corruption” under the leadership of Najib Razak.

馬來西亞頗有影響力的前總理馬哈蒂爾•穆罕默德(Mahathir Mohamad)週一表示，他將退出執政黨，以抗議現任總理納吉布•拉扎克(Najib Razak)領導下涉嫌存在的“腐敗行爲”。

Mr Mahathir’s decision after months of bitter public campaigning against his successor is a symptom of the mounting pressure on Mr Najib, who has been embroiled in scandal over payments of almost $700m to his personal bank account.

納吉布捲入了一起醜聞，起因是有人向他的個人銀行賬戶轉入近7億美元。馬哈蒂爾的這一決定凸顯出納吉布承受的越來越大的壓力。

Mr Najib’s supporters regard the development as evidence of the premier’s strength in the United Malays National Organisation. Both the party and government have made strenuous efforts to contain the affair in recent days.

納吉布的支持者將這一事態視作納吉布在馬來民族統一機構（United Malays National Organisation，簡稱“巫統”）內強大影響力的證明。馬來西亞執政黨和政府近來作出了不懈的努力，來遏制這起醜聞發酵。

Mr Mahathir, who led Malaysia for 22 years, has become the arch critic of his successor, who denies allegations of corruption linked to the 1MDB state investment fund.

曾領導馬來西亞22年的馬哈蒂爾，現已成爲其繼任者納吉布的主要批評者。納吉布否認了與國家投資基金1MDB有關的腐敗指控。

Mr Mahathir said he was ashamed to be associated with Umno, which has dominated national politics for decades. He would now take his fight against Mr Najib outside the party, seeking to rally the prime minister’s opponents under a single banner.

馬哈蒂爾表示，自己恥於與巫統爲伍。巫統已主導馬來西亞國家政治數十年。馬哈蒂爾將在黨外繼續反對納吉布，併力求將納吉布的反對者團結到一個陣營中。

“I feel embarrassed that I am associated with a party that is seen as supporting corruption,” he said. “It had caused me to feel ashamed.”

馬哈蒂爾說：“與這樣一個被認爲是支持腐敗的政黨爲伍，令我感到難堪。這事讓我感到羞愧。”

Critics of Mr Mahathir say his own period of rule was notable for political patronage and cronyism.

馬哈蒂爾的批評者則表示，馬哈蒂爾自己執政的那段時期以政治包庇和任人唯親著稱。