Net closes on Malaysia’s Najib:

Asia

The net tightened on toppled Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak as the new government on Monday placed on leave a controversial figure seen as his protector in a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal.

Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition last week suffered a shock defeat to an alliance of parties headed by the elderly Mahathir Mohamad, ending the corruptionmired regime’s six decades in power.

Voters turned out en masse to oust Najib, angered at rising living costs, divisive racial politics in the Muslim-majority country and allegations of endemic graft among the country’s ruling elite.

The 92-year-old Mahathir — who ruled Malaysia for two decades until 2003, and came out of retirement to take on Najib — is now the world’s oldest elected leader.

He officially got down to work as prime minister Monday, holding meetings with top civil servants and receiving his first official visitor, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

Najib became a hugely unpopular figure over his alleged involvement in plundering huge sums from Malaysian sovereign fund