The spectre of money politics has once again returned to haunt Malaysia's dominant party Umno and could undermine the anti-graft credentials of party president, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who is also the country's prime minister.

The allegations come at the worst possible time for Umno amidst claims that candidates at the just-concluded party elections had given huge sums of money to delegates to secure support.

"History shows that empires and institutions have fallen by the wayside because of unfettered corruption. For all its proud history and contributions to Malaysia, Umno too, is not immune," wrote the New Straits Times editor-in-chief Kalimullah Hassan in his weekly column.

"And this was borne out during this year's Umno election. Much as some leaders and delegates refuse to acknowledge publicly that money was passed from some candidates to delegates, deep down, they know that this did happen," added Kalimullah.