Najib's case won't be as easy as putting me in jail - Anwar

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim said the prosecution process against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak won't be as easy as the way he was jailed under the previous BN government.

Anwar said this was because the new Pakatan Harapan government holds on to the principle of the "rule of law".

"Wanting to prosecute the former prime minister won't be easy... it won't be like how I was prosecuted in the past.

"Because we promised the rule of law. We promised not to interfere in the judiciary... we promised fairness," Anwar said at a charity dinner in Kuala Langat organised by the local PKR division last night.

He said this in response to calls for Najib, who is accused of misappropriating billions of ringgit from state-owned investment fund 1MDB, to be jailed.

Najib, who has denied wrongdoing, is facing 42 charges of money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust. Seven of the charges have already gone to trial.

Also present at the event last night was PKR vice-president Dr Xavier Jayakumar, who is also the Kuala Langat PKR chief.

For the record, Anwar was in 1999 jailed on charges of sodomy and abuse of power.

The sodomy conviction was overturned in 2004, after a change of prime minister, from Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The abuse of power charge remained.

Anwar was again jailed in 2015 on a sodomy charge, this time under then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Forged an alliance with Mahathir

However, while in prison, Anwar forged an alliance with his former nemesis Mahathir to oust Najib, who was plagued by accusations of grand corruption.

Mahathir led the Harapan coalition to the country's first transition of power, ending the BN/Alliance's 61 years in power.

Mahathir himself was formerly from BN, which he led for 22 years.

After winning power, Mahathir sought a pardon for Anwar. Anwar was pardoned for all of his convictions, including those from 1999.

In order to lead Harapan, Mahathir had agreed to hand over power to Anwar during the mid-term of his prime ministership.

Speaking at the dinner last night, Anwar said he gives his full backing to Mahathir.

He said that by the time Mahathir takes over, the country would already be on the path to recovery.

"I would be taking over in a stable condition which would be easier. So we in PKR give full support to the government," Anwar added. - Mkini