Semangat 46 dissolved

Semangat 46 dissolved

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia's opposition Semangat 46 party led by Premier Mahathir Mohamad's onetime rival, Prince Razaleigh Hamzah, was declared dissolved yesterday, eight years after it was formed to oppose Mahathir.

Semangat 46's 400,000-odd members, at the party's last general assembly, adopted an emotional resolution to unanimously dissolve the party.

"It is for the sake of Malay unity," declared Razaleigh, who formed Semangat 46 in 1988, a year after he abandoned the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) following a failed bid to oust Mahathir as UMNO president.

Razaleigh said the bulk of his members would be rejoining UMNO en masse tomorrow.