Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad keluar UMNO

Bekas perdama menteri Malaysia mengumumkan keluar dari parti UMNO di Kedah jam 12.35 19 Mei 2008.

"I am quitting Umno today," he told about 1,000 people, mostly Kedah Umno members, at a talk here on Monday.

"I will write a letter to Umno headquarters to inform that I have quit the party," he said.

Punca utama Tun keluar parti adalah sudah hilang kepercayaan terhadap kepimpinan parti yang diterajui olah Dato Seri Abdullah Badawi, terutama prestasi menurun pilihanraya yang baru berlalu. Ditanya oleh pemberita apakah beliau akan kembali semula kepada UMNO jika Perdana Menteri turun dari jawatan, beliau menjawab "Ya".

Berikut adalah sejaran kronologi Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad dalam arena politik Malaysia.

• 1946: Joined United Malays National Organisation (Umno).

• 1947: While a medical student, he wrote extensive anti-colonial commentaries in Malay newspapers under the pen-name "Che Det".

• 1957: Resigned from government service as a doctor. Starts private practice.

• 1964: Entered active politics as Kota Star Selatan MP.

• 1965-1969: Member, Umno Supreme Council.

• Sept 1969: Expelled from Umno for disciplinary reasons. Re-admitted on March 7, 1972.

• June 1972: Elected a member of the Umno Supreme Council with the highest number of votes. Lost in the election for an Umno Vice-President post.

• Dec 1972: Appointed a Senator by the Kedah State Legislative Assembly.

• 1974-2004: MP for Kubang Pasu, Kedah.

• Sept 1974: Education Minister.

• June 1975: Umno Vice-President.

• March 1976: Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Education.

• 1977: Acting Chairman, Umno Liaison Committee, Malacca.

• Jan 1978: Deputy Prime Minister & Trade and Industry Minister.

• May 1978: Chairman, Perak Umno Liaison Committee.

• Sept 1978: Umno Deputy President.

• June 1981: Barisan Nasional Chairman.

• June 1981: Umno President.

• July 16 1981: Fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Minister of Defence (until 1986) and Minister of Home Affairs (until 1999).

• July 17 1987: Umno Political Bureau Chairman.

• Feb 16 1988: Pro-tem President of Umno Baru. Umno was declared an illegal society on Feb 4, 1988.

• Dec 1993: Kelantan Umno Chairman. Chairman, Politics and Constitution Committees of the Supreme Council.

• Sept 1998-Jan 1999: Finance Minister. June 2001 - Finance Minister.

• June 22 2002: Announced his intention to resign from all political and government posts at the final day of the 56th Umno assembly. Appeals from Umno Supreme Council members.

• Oct 31 2003: Retired as PM and Umno president after 22 years.

• Sept 2006: Fails in bid to be an Umno delegate for the Umno general assembly coming in ninth out of 15 contestants in the Kubang Pasu division.

• May 19 2008: Quits Umno

resource: thestar, berita terkini tv3