(May 13): Even if Datuk Seri Najib Razak steps down as prime minister, PKR believes no substantial change or reform will take place if Barisan Nasional remains in power.

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said change could only take place at the electoral level, a stand which Pakatan Rakyat has consistently championed throughout the years.

"Najib might leave as prime minister. He'll be secure with a comfortable life whether here or overseas. But it is us that will be inherit the problems and I doubt under BN and Umno there will be any impetus or readiness to embrace change at fundamental and structural levels," she said at the PKR headquarters today.

Citing Najib's predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Nurul said there was a euphoric sense of excitement then for change and reform but nothing much happened as he had inherited many problems.

"I have seen this time and again when Pak Lah took office," she said, using Abdullah's moniker.

"If the current education minister becomes PM, I shudder to think what will be done," she added, referring to Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who is also deputy prime minister.

Calls for Malaysia's sixth prime minister to resign have grown since pilgrims’ fund Lembaga Tabung Haji confirmed buying land from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) – the state investment vehicle whose RM42 billion debt has pushed even former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to ask for Najib's ouster.

Dr Mahathir warned that Umno and BN would lose the next general election if Najib did not resign.

The outcry over the sale, which led to some calling the deal a "bailout" given 1MDB's massive debts, prompted Tabung Haji to announce on Saturday that it was selling the land it brought for RM188.5 million.

Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said Najib had advised him to dispose of the land so that the fund's reputation was not "tarnished" by its business transaction with 1MDB, and in order to respect the "sensitivity" of the depositors.

While she did not want to comment more on the internal turmoil in Umno which saw leaders including Dr Mahathir calling for Najib to go, Nurul said there was an urgent need for policies to save the country.

"I do not need to comment more when the elephants are fighting. Maybe I should buy popcorn and eat," she said. – The Malaysian Insider