The pending announcement of the Pardons Board’s decision on whether or not to free Najib Abdul Razak will be bad news for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research (NASR) senior fellow Azmi Hassan said regardless of whether the former prime minister is pardoned or not, Anwar will face backlash.
He said if the former Pekan MP received a pardon, Anwar would be praised by Umno supporters. As Najib still has some influence in the party, Azmi said the former Umno president’s pardon will certainly make party grassroots happy especially if he continues his political career.
“If he remains active in the (political) scene, it would certainly strengthen the party and they will gain more trust from the Malay and Muslim voters. “But Pakatan Harapan voters will blame Anwar and they wouldn’t be comfortable working with Umno again,”
Likewise, University of Tasmania political scientist James Chin believed a pardon would lead to the government losing the confidence of their urban supporters who do not want to see Najib freed. “His pardon will also impact Malaysia’s reputation. Malaysia is recovering from 1MDB and with Najib’s pardon, people would think the government is not serious about corruption,” he added.
However, he said though there might be protests against Najib’s pardon, they would be limited due to the pardon being under the Agong’s prerogative. “Some Malay groups would probably do some protest, but it wouldn’t be much,” he said.
As for whether the federal government itself would remain intact, Azmi believed the status quo would remain.This is as both Harapan and Umno have concluded that they need each other as political allies, he said.
Win-win situation
Meanwhile, in the event the Pardons Board reduces Najib’s prison sentence instead of granting a pardon, Chin believed the damage among Harapan voters would be minimal. “The urban crowd will be angry, but it will just be for a little while,” he said.
Azmi, meanwhile, believed it would be a win-win situation for everyone if Najib was granted a reduction to six years. He said Anwar’s voters would not be angry because Najib would still be in prison while Umno supporters would be happy as Najib would have fewer years to serve with a possible early release for good behaviour.
However, Azmi said the response from Umno would not be pleasant if Najib’s pardon is rejected and his prison sentence maintained. He said both Anwar and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would be blamed if Najib did not receive a pardon.
“Zahid would probably be blamed for failing to convince Anwar of Najib’s pardon. He (Zahid) would be seen as trying to protect his position in the party,” he said.
Najib was locked up in Kajang Prison after being convicted in the RM42 million SRC International corruption case. The 12-year imprisonment was meted out by the High Court - upheld by the Court of Appeal and Federal Court. Najib is also on trial for other crimes, including four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.27 billion from 1MDB.
Ex-cons can’t contest for 5 years
If and when Najib is released from prison, the question of whether he will rejoin frontline politics will depend on the circumstances of his freedom. If he is pardoned, Najib is free to contest in elections immediately, unless of course he is convicted before an election is called.
However, if he is released after completing his prison sentence - reduced or otherwise - an electoral return will have to wait. Ex-convicts are barred from standing in an election for five years after they are released.
Regardless of when he is allowed to contest, however, Universiti Malaya senior lecturer Mohammad Tawfik Yaakub believed a Najib comeback would be difficult to pull off. He said Najib’s time had passed and Anwar’s image was more prominent than other political figures in the federal government.
“It is quite difficult for Najib to make a comeback, compared to Anwar who had great political momentum since 1998,” he said. However, he did not dismiss the possibility of Najib serving as a backbencher in government if he is pardoned. - Ili Aqilah,mk
Royal pardon? Najib’s overjoy
may turn into gloom reality...
Bad reporting can happen and we have seen this happening in the past 24 hours. Both Channel News Asia and Utusan Malaysia have had to bite the bullet for jumping the gun. Taking the cue from Utusan Malaysia, the New Straits Times has also carried the headline, “[BREAKING] Najib Pardoned.” In the end, instead of a news break, they have had to change their story angle by asking, “Najib pardoned?”
However, the news has indeed created waves with many netizens complaining because former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak is pardoned despite it taking more than five years to secure a conviction. Most people could not palate the possibility of the former Pekan MP being released after spending only a fraction of his original jail sentence.
Whether this was done intentionally to test the public reaction is anyone’s guess but sources close to the Yang DiPertuan Agong (YDPA) Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said that, in the first place, the Agong had no intention to pardon the jailed former prime minister. Although both Najib and Sultan Abdullah may come from the same home state of Pahang, a crime is still a crime to the Pahang ruler especially when the crime involves the nation’s wealth and reputation.
Malaysia did not secure an improvement in the ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index for nothing. Last year, the ranking improved four notches from being No 61 most corrupted nation in 2022 to 57th position in 2023. The SRC International’s case involving RM41 mil went through all three levels with a total of nine judges – one High Court judge, three Appeals Court judges and five Federal Court judges. All nine judges agreed that Najib was guilty.
Utusan retracted the news of Najib's pardon...
Reduced jail sentence?
After all, Najib has only spent less than two years in prison – to be precise, only 17 months. It would be a mockery to the country’s judiciary system with the nation’s reputation ruined in the eyes of the international community if a conviction secured after five years of court battles ended with the convict being pardoned.
Other prisoners have to wait for many years before their applications reach the Pardons Board. In most cases, the appeals are rejected and the prisoner would have to wait for another two years before he can submit another appeal.
In the case of Najib, he has three other cases hanging like the sword of Damocles over his head; therefore, it is highly unlikely that Sultan Abdullah would go against the convention to grant the royal pardon. Usually, convicts do not have ongoing cases before their appeals are considered by the Pardon Board.
Word is going around that Najib may, however, see a reduced jail sentence, but for a case involving a former prime minister with such a bad track record, a minimum of two thirds of the original jail sentence may serve him right. After all, no one is above the law, regardless of their positions or connections. In fact, Najib should set the example as a leader of the nation, that he would uphold the rule of law.
It is also learnt that a convict can only receive the Royal Pardon once. Najib’s best option, therefore, is to wait for all the other cases to be over before he seeks for a Royal Pardon; otherwise, if he gets his clemency now, he may have to spend the rest of his natural life in prison. After all, which prisoner can get clemency for more than once? – FocusM
If what was reported by CNA is accurate, then, it is a sentence remission or reduced sentence, which also means that Najib Razak is still currently a convicted felon. The 12 year sentence reduction to 6 years means that Najib will be entitled to seek a royal pardon after having served one-third of the six year sentence i.e. from August 2024 onwards subject to good behaviour. Have Najib behaved? Nope!!! A convict is required to wear prison attire when attending to matters outside of prison e.g. court hearings. Regardless of any latitude given by the prison warden (which in itself is inexplicable), Najib have not bothered to adhere to prison rules. Therefore, Najib have not shown any remorse for his crime. - Sharifuddin Abdul Latiff
Curi Gardenia bread because of hunger - masuk perjara satu tahun. No pardon. Steal billions - masuk perjara not even two years and got pardon. Itu lah Malaysia!!! - Doc
Just think about that 13 judges who had maintained the 12 years sentence and the fine from High Court to appeal as well as a review. IF the rumours is true (usually in this land, rumours will turn out to be true), the Pardon Board is saying indirectly that the 13 could be wrong as far as the sentence and fine are concerned. If I were one of that 13 judges, just imagine how I will be feeling and thinking? The above is just one of the setbacks. We simply throw away their decision. Not respecting is another issue here. - apanama is back
cheers.
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