KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - BUSINESSMAN and former Youth wing treasurer Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir announced on Wednesday that he was quitting Umno.

His decision comes two days after his father Dr Mahathir, the former Malaysian Prime Minister, resigned from the ruling party.

On Tuesday, Umno Youth exco member and Jerlun MP Datuk Mukhriz, who is also Mr Mokhzani's brother, said that he will not quit the party.

He, however, called on Prime Minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign. Stressing that his father's action on Monday was due to his love for the party, Mr Mukhriz, who is Dr Mahathir's youngest son, said he had a similar aim of wanting to bring changes to the party.

He said Dr Mahathir might be disappointed that he did not follow suit in resigning from the party, but added that he would explain his reasons to him.

Mr Mukhriz, 44, who had previously called on PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign, reiterated his call for the latter to do so.

'I am a loyal servant of the party. But there is a need for the PM to resign in order to save Umno. Party members and the people must voice their feelings about the leadership of Abdullah openly, through letters, SMSes, letters to the media or by having press conferences in order to put pressure on him to resign.

'I need to fulfil my aspirations to do something good for the party, and this is my stand for the moment,' he told a press conference on Tuesday.

Dr Mahathir had, during a meeting with Umno members in Alor Star on Monday, announced that he was quitting the party as he wanted Abdullah to resign.

Asked whether the reason why he did not want to quit the party was because he was eyeing the Umno Youth chief's post which would be vacated by incumbent Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein in December, Mukhriz said he was not thinking about that, repeating that what was most important was Mr Abdullah's resignation.

'I hope that action will be taken before the party's branch level meetings in July, and if the Prime Minister still does not step down by then, I reserve the right to take a different stand.

'If there are no positive developments within the party in the shortest period of time, my fear is that if the leadership crisis is to drag on, we will lose other states in the next general election. So there is no compromise.

'The Prime Minister should just resign,' said Mr Mukhriz.