When the grassroots in Umno meet, the name of this convicted felon is freely and regularly used to work up their emotions and garner support.
Mention “justice for Najib Abdul Razak”, and there will be no shortage of clapping and cheering, raising the speaker’s stature and popularity.
From the president to the lower echelons of the party, Umno has been flogging the same phrase for political expediency.
Umno believes and sends out the message that the party’s hopes of returning to its former glory are related to former prime minister Najib getting out of jail.
The latest to join the fray was Johor Umno chairperson Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who at the Pekan Umno meeting on Sunday, described Najib as one of the country’s “best prime ministers” and that what happened to the incarcerated former Pekan MP was very sad.
Najib was initially sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million in the SRC International graft case. His jail time has since been halved by the Federal Territories Pardons Board and his fine reduced to RM50 million.
He is also facing other trials, including four charges of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering involving 1MDB funds.
Before that, hordes of Umno leaders, including his wife, Rosmah Mansor - a convicted felon herself - urged Umno members to continue with the push for his release.
She hoped they would continue to appreciate Najib’s struggles and contribution to the nation as prime minister.
“I hope my husband is brought out as soon as possible. I can now feel party members appreciating my husband’s struggles,” she told reporters at the Umno general assembly in June last year.
Ignoring the courts’ ruling
I then wrote: “Why is Umno president and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi and other Umno leaders promoting this narrative that Najib is innocent when the High Court convicted him and appeals to the Court of Appeal (which described him as a ‘national embarrassment’) and the Federal Court were dismissed?
“They seem to ignore that the nature of his crime is unprecedented and that the conviction and sentence are reflective of the seriousness - large sums of people’s money being misused.”
Umno leaders and Zahid in particular, have been using every opportunity given to keep the flickering flames alive and demand “justice for Najib”.
To add to the many tales concocted and claims of an unfair trial by these leaders, even the name of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been thrown into the ring.
Former Umno stalwart and later one of the many Najib’s lawyers, Zaid Ibrahim, invoked a laughable conspiracy theory that failed to get traction even among the converted and the gullible.
He wrote on X: “The curse is now on us because we have mistreated Najib so badly. We described him as a great national disgrace when he was a victim of the CIA regime change. Our perspectives change only when we accept the reality that 1MDB was a CIA project made easier by Najib’s own gullibility.”
Najib has since filed a judicial review to compel the government to execute a purported supplementary order by the previous Agong for him to complete his sentence under house arrest.
The High Court threw out his case but he has since appealed.
No such thing as house arrest
However, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has not been consistent on the whole issue either.
In April, at PKR’s 25th-anniversary convention, The Malay Mail quoted him as saying whether Najib should serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest is for the Pardons Board to decide.
A month later at the Qatar Economic Forum, Bloomberg quoted him as saying that he suggested that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong would only consider Najib’s house arrest bid after the conclusion of the latter’s ongoing 1MDB trial.
Anwar emphasised that, as prime minister, he would not override the king’s authority and that his recommendations would only be made if the ruler asked for them.
According to court records, only two people through their affidavits have claimed to have seen the royal addendum for Najib’s house arrest - Zahid and Umno vice-president Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail.
Both claimed that International Trade and Investment Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz informed them of the addendum order.
The High Court rejected Najib’s review application, saying that the evidence provided was hearsay and the issue is now before the Court of Appeal.
Is there something in our system called “house arrest”? Section 8 of the Prisons Act empowers the Prisons Department director-general to establish a “temporary prison” should there be overcrowding or the outbreak of an infectious disease.
In short, there is no such thing as “house arrest” in our system. Why the Pardons Board claimed to have recommended a non-existent provision is beyond comprehension.
If Anwar and Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail bend backward to use this clause to create a temporary prison in Naib’s house, it is game over for the unity government.
In the meantime, the drums will continue beating and cries of “justice for Najib” will be heard at Umno division meetings throughout the country in the next few months.
Anwar and his government seem to have gone into silent mode but can get out of this sticky situation by answering some simple questions: Wasn’t the Pardons Board aware that “house arrest” does not exist? Why then such a recommendation? Is the government aware of its existence?
Malaysians have been kept in the dark and wait with bated breath for answers. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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