‘Najib's name nominated for Pekan before he was sent to prison'

 

Najib Abdul Razak's name was nominated for the Pekan parliamentary seat before the former prime minister was sent to prison for corruption.

This is according to Pekan Umno chief Zamri Ramly, who recently courted backlash by revealing Najib's candidacy.

"Najib's name, together with that of four others, was handed to the Pahang Umno liaison committee before the deadline on Aug 19.

"However, Najib was sent to prison on August 23. Thus, his nomination should not be turned into an issue as his name was handed in before the court sentencing," Zamri told Malaysiakini when contacted yesterday.

On Thursday, Zamri revealed that the Pekan Umno division has submitted five names, including Najib's for the Pekan parliamentary seat for the 15th general election (GE15).

According to him, there were no plans to nominate Najib's children for the seat, and whoever is chosen to contest it will hand the seat back to Najib after he's pardoned.

It’s a norm

Najib is currently serving a 12-year jail sentence after being convicted of seven counts of corruption in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.

The remark courted backlash, with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim suggesting the Pekan Umno division in Pahang given a copy of the Federal Constitution.

Yesterday, Pahang BN chairperson Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said he has yet to receive complete information regarding Pekan Umno's proposal to nominate Najib for the seat.

Meanwhile, Zamri said that just because Najib was nominated, it did not mean the former Umno president will be chosen to contest the seat in GE15.

"Najib is the incumbent and has been the Pekan MP for five terms, so his name was included in the list.

"It is a norm for any Umno division to propose the incumbent seat holder in their name list for consideration to compete in an election," he added. - Mkini