The Economist has painted a grim picture of Malaysia with regard to the 1MDB issue, which it claims has rattled foreign investors and harmed the country’s international standing.

Elsewhere, the publication said, a scandal such as this would have resulted in a swift change in government.

However, the Economist pointed out that if the political landscape in Malaysia is to change, the opposition must lift its game.

It noted how rural Malays considered the 1MDB issue a remote affair and that certain urbanites still favoured Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's government over the opposition.

"If change is to come, the disparate opposition needs to do a better job of winning such people over; its fractious parties must overcome their divisions and present a plausible candidate to replace Najib in a general election that could be held as soon as next year.

"Malaysia has always been an imperfect democracy, but the rot eating at its institutions is harming its international standing and its economic prospects alike," it added.

The Economist claimed that Umno has devised numerous methods to protect its leaders from internal revolts.

"So Najib found it easy to purge critics, delay a parliamentary investigation and replace an attorney-general said to have been preparing charges against him.

"No one in Malaysia has been charged over 1MDB's missing money. But a court has handed a prison sentence to an opposition politician who frustrated efforts to hush up the affair.

"The editor and publisher of one of Malaysia's last independent news organisations face jail under a rule which forbids certain content published with 'intent to annoy'. A competitor closed in March after authorities ordered its website blocked," it said, referring to news portal Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider respectively.

Najib has denied abusing public funds for personal gain, and blamed such allegations on those he claim are attempting to topple him from power.

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has also cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing.