Electoral reform coalition Bersih has urged the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, following the US Department of Justice’s crackdown on assets linked to state investment arm 1MDB.

Bersih said Najib must resign to allow for independent investigations to be held, without executive interference, and for the violators to be brought to justice.

“Najib’s attempts to cover up and suppress the truth are over.

“It is time for this nation to end the plague of kleptocracy with impunity, the silencing of critics and the subversion of clean and fair elections,” said Bersih in a statement.

Aside from Najib, Bersih also urged the immediate resignation of attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali for his role in clearing Najib's name in the 1MDB corruption scandal.

Bersih said Apandi and inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar must answer for their failure to act against "the largest corruption scandal in Malaysia’s history".

US attorney-general Loretta E Lynch at a press conference yesterday announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had commenced a civil suit to recover billions in assets linked to 1MDB.

According to the lawsuit, US$731 million was allegedly siphoned from 1MDB into a bank account owned by Malaysian Official 1.

DOJ did not name ‘Malaysian Official 1’ but described the individual as a "high-ranking official in the Malaysian government who also held a position of authority with 1MDB."

Moving forward, Bersih said an interim government must be set up to implement the institutional reforms demanded at its Bersih 4 rally, as well as to ensure free and fair elections in the next general election.

“Given the overwhelming public interest in this case, all information relating to the investigations into 1MDB must be declassified and released to the public,” it said.

Najib’s supporters have since described the action as being politically motivated but Bersih pointed out there were also six other international investigations made on money laundering and corruption, also linked to the 1MDB scandal.

This lawsuit confirms the intricate web of money laundering and corruption linked to 1MDB, it added.