Kuala Lumpur (PTI): A day after he quit Malaysia's ruling party demanding Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's resignation, the former premier Mahathir Mohammad on Tuesday found little support from partymen, with a senior minister terming it as "a blackmail".

Members of UMNO party, the largest component of ruling coalition, on Tuesday rallied behind premier Abdullah Badawi over the his one-time mentor's decision to quit, while opposition suggested it would be willing to take Mahathir into its fold.

"Nobody, no matter how big he is, has the right to use dirty tactics to bring down a person who is democratically elected," Nazri Aziz Mohammad, Minister in Prime Minister's office said on Tuesday.

"It's not something that we condone and it's undemocratic; that's blackmailing the party," he said.

Mahathir, an influential leader had had a few wars of words with the premier Abdullah Badawi in recent months.

He had stepped up attacks on Badawi after United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) received a drubbing in the March elections, losing two-thirds majority in Parliament and five states, before quitting the party on Monday.

"I will only come back when there is change in leadership," Mahathir, 82, who was premier for 22 years, had told cheering supporters in Kedah on Monday.

He had also urged other members of the UMNO to quit too as a way of pressurising Abdullah to step down but advised them not to join the opposition.

However, his son Mukhriz, who is the youth executive council member of the UMNO party, has said he will not resign but called on Abdullah to step down as prime minister and party president.