Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, has refused to resign after mass protests, and has called for national unity.
Thousands of people had taken to the streets over the weekend, urging Mr Najib to step down after he was accused of taking $700 million of public funds.
Mr Najib said such protests were “not the proper channel to voice opinions in a democratic country”.
The protests, which “disrupt public order and only inconvenience the people” did not reflect maturity and were “not the proper channel to voice opinions in a democratic country”.
He has also denied pocketing $700m (£455m) of public money.
Speaking in a public address to mark Malaysia’s National Day, Mr Najib said it was clear the rest of Malaysia backed the government.
“We will never allow anyone from within or from outside, to simply walk in and steal, ruin or destroy all that we have built so far.”
“Let us all remember, if we are not united, lose our solidarity and cohesion, all problems will not be resolved, and everything we have laboriously built, will be destroyed just like that,” he said.
