马来西亚前总理马哈蒂尔宣布退出巫统

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.

马来西亚颇有影响力的前总理马哈蒂尔•穆罕默德(Mahathir Mohamad)周一表示，他将退出执政党，以抗议现任总理纳吉布•拉扎克(Najib Razak)领导下涉嫌存在的“腐败行为”。

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.

纳吉布卷入了一起丑闻，起因是有人向他的个人银行账户转入近7亿美元。马哈蒂尔的这一决定凸显出纳吉布承受的越来越大的压力。

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.

纳吉布的支持者将这一事态视作纳吉布在马来民族统一机构（United Malays National Organisation，简称“巫统”）内强大影响力的证明。马来西亚执政党和政府近来作出了不懈的努力，来遏制这起丑闻发酵。

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.

曾领导马来西亚22年的马哈蒂尔，现已成为其继任者纳吉布的主要批评者。纳吉布否认了与国家投资基金1MDB有关的腐败指控。

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.

马哈蒂尔表示，自己耻于与巫统为伍。巫统已主导马来西亚国家政治数十年。马哈蒂尔将在党外继续反对纳吉布，并力求将纳吉布的反对者团结到一个阵营中。

“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.”

马哈蒂尔说：“与这样一个被认为是支持腐败的政党为伍，令我感到难堪。这事让我感到羞愧。”

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

马哈蒂尔的批评者则表示，马哈蒂尔自己执政的那段时期以政治包庇和任人唯亲著称。