KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S ruling party will soon make sweeping changes to the way it elects its leaders in a bid to curb deep-rooted graft and patronage, an official said on Friday.

The reforms are part of Prime Minister Najib Razak's efforts to revive the ebbing popularity of his United Malays National Organisation, which opposition critics say is dominated by corrupt and power-hungry politicians.

Reforms to the party's leadership elections are expected to be approved at a special meeting during the party's annual congress next week, said party secretary general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

The party's top leaders are currently elected by some 2,500 delegates, leaving the majority of the party's 3 million members with no voice. Party officials acknowledge that the system has bred a culture of patronage with candidates sometimes offering bribes and other favors in return for votes. Securing top party posts is a stepping stone to plum appointments in the Cabinet and government organisations.

Details of the reforms will be announced next week, but some officials have proposed that voting be extended to more than 100,000 party officials, Tengku Adnan said. The party might also abolish a decades-old rule that top candidates need a minimum number of nominations from party branches before they can run for office. Some members say the rule has fostered corruption and enabled wealthy candidates to buy support from branch members, thereby preventing rivals from contesting against them.

'This is a vast change. We are moving toward reform,' Tengku Adnan told reporters.

Any changes would take effect at the party's next elections, which are not expected for at least two years. -- AP