Malaysia's main ruling party acted quickly yesterday to quash a race row that had threatened the ruling coalition by expelling an official who called the country's ethnic Chinese "immigrants".

The move came after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was granted bail on sodomy charges that he insists are politically motivated, and declared he was ready to take power in six days with the aid of 30 government MPs who he says will rebel.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi expelled a mid-ranking official from his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) whose comments caused an uproar among his party's allies in the governing Barisan Nasional coalition.