UMNO, including Ghafar Baba, a former deputy prime minister, have said they would rather see a vote held.

ECONOMIST: Malaysia

At the start of that year, Anwar said that he had no intention of running for UMNO's No. 2 slot, and continued for months to deny that he would challenge the incumbent deputy president Ghafar Baba.

CNN: HEN MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER

The list of casualties reads like a Who's Who of Mahathir backers: the PM's close friend and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, former agriculture minister Sanusi Junid, the ex-deputy premier Ghafar Baba, former chief minister of Malacca Rahim Tamby Chik, current deputy ministers Khalid Yunus and Railey Jeffrey, and the party's veteran information chief Hussein Ahmad.

CNN: HEN MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER