Fears Over Malaysia Mecca Fund Test Najib's Main Support Base
- Hajj fund has 9 million depositors from mostly Malay Muslims
- Ethnic Malay voters kept ruling coalition in power in 2013
MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 17: Muslim pilgrims pray at the holy Kaaba at Mecca's Grand Mosque during the annual hajj rituals January 17, 2005 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Officials say over 1.6 million worshippers have come from abroad for this year's haj, a once-in-a-lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim.
Photographer: Abid Katib/Getty ImagesFor Malaysia’s 18 million Muslims, the ultimate in holy duty is to travel to Mecca, a pilgrimage that can require decades of saving. Now the fund that holds much of their money is under a cloud, a fresh challenge for a scandal-hit government.
Concerns over unpopular and unprofitable investments at the government-linked fund may erode loyalty to Prime Minister Najib Razak among his main supporters -- rural-based ethnic Malays -- and potentially do more damage than a clutch of political funding probes that have been running for months.