KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian government and Umno won’t interfere with the judicial system in ex-premier Najib Razak’s case, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Wednesday.
He was responding to social media speculation that Najib, who is in jail, would be pardoned and become a Member of Parliament again should Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) romp to victory in the Nov 19 general election.
Datuk Seri Ismail said the matter of granting a pardon was within the powers of the Malaysian King, and not Umno.
Najib was formerly the president of Umno, Malaysia’s biggest political party by membership.
Several Umno leaders led by its current president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and a section of the party’s 3.4 million members have been agitating for Najib’s pardon by the king and for his release from prison.
Najib started to serve his 12-year prison sentence for graft on Aug 23 after the apex Federal Court upheld convictions by two lower courts in connection with misusing RM42 million (S$13 million) funds from SRC International, a former unit of state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
PM Ismail, one of Umno’s three vice-presidents who rose to become prime minister last year, said he won’t interfere with the judicial system.
“The government is consistent... it will not interfere with the judicial system. This is clear,” he told reporters after attending an event in Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Ismail and Zahid are together leading the four-party BN in the general election (GE). BN had 42 seats in the recently-dissolved Parliament.
BN emerged victorious in all the past national polls except in the 14th GE in 2018, when it lost federal power for the first time. There is some expectation that BN would again lead the government after next month’s polls after strong wins in the Melaka and Johor state elections in the last 11 months.
Mr Ismail said on Wednesday that Najib’s lawyers had done their work in filing an application for the Federal Court to review its Aug 23 decision, and filing for a Royal pardon.
“The court will make a decision and we will allow the judiciary to come up with its own conclusions,” said Mr Ismail.
He added that the Pardons Board, which advises the king on pardoning applicants, would also make its own decision on Najib’s case.
“Umno has no power (to do such things), and we respect the judicial system. Umno has no power to simply release anyone,” said Mr Ismail. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
