“UMNO’s defence of Bossku reveals how deeply sick Malaysia’s oldest political party has become”

 

THE recent High Court verdict against the disgraced former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak should have been a moment for Malaysia to finally take corruption seriously.

Instead, UMNO as a political party proved once again that it still cannot distinguish right from wrong: it does have a terminal ethical sickness by choosing loyalty to a criminal over loyalty to accountability, honesty and the rule of law.

The clownish Najib – infamously described by a senior judge as a “national embarrassment” to Malaysia – was finally convicted on all 25 of the charges in the infamous, nearly decade-long 1MDB legal case.

19.6.2018: interview with Reuters, >5 YEARS after receiving ‘Saudi donation’

Najib suddenly says he’s unsure of source (‘debatable’) & and claims he’s ‘not privy’ to his own personal account!

Then, he went on with Saudi donation defence TWICE in SRC and 1MDB trials  pic.twitter.com/XsGunWHNkK

— 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕞𝕤𝕦𝕝 (@PakShamsul) December 27, 2025

The court found that the prosecution successfully proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt, sentencing Najib to a total of 165 years in prison which he will serve concurrently over the course of 15 years. He was also fined a long-overdue RM11.4 bil for his numerous crimes.

After years of Najib being awkwardly rejected and ignored by world leaders ranging from former US president Barack Obama to real Saudi royals, he was subjected to even more public humiliation on Friday by Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah who did not hold back or mince any words about the accused and his insipid lawyer.

Bapok hensemnyer Collin Lawrence Sequerah nihh.

Dah lah hensem, bijak pulok tuh.

Tq lah Yang Arif for the awesome judgment U delivered today. Faith in the judiciary is completely restored! pic.twitter.com/SlXjzgUIZs

— MokcikMagic (@KlutzyKucing) December 26, 2025

The judge publicly rejected Najib’s claim that the funds were a “Saudi donation,” calling it “an unbelievable, untenable fabrication … lacking credibility, contradicted and dispelled by documentary evidence” and bluntly compared it to “a tale that surpasses even those from the Arabian Nights.”

So much for all of Najib’s cringeworthy sumpah laknat (a Muslim practice where a person calls upon God to curse them if they are lying) performances.

Judge Sequerah also revealed that an independent legal investigation confirmed that Najib’s letters from Saudi donors were fake, hence described them as outright “forgeries”.

But even with such a devastating loss for Najib this week, UMNO leaders still strangely did not publicly distance themselves from him, let alone even admonish or condemn him.

For example, when Najib lost his bid for house arrest four days earlier, UMNO Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Salleh threw a public tantrum and threatened that his party would withdraw from the Madani government.

And the day after the 1MDB Boxing Day verdict, the Puchong UMNO branch announced that it was terminating all cooperation with Pakatan Harapan/DAP. Taken together, this is not party strength. It is denial and self-delusion on a disturbing, nationwide scale.

Additionally, Najib’s own facial reactions and body language in court were telling. He appeared to be smirking and even smiling, still showing no remorse for his crimes that are still costing Malaysians dearly.

Official estimates are that Malaysia will only be able to fully pay back all of the Najib family’s billions in 1MDB debts by the year 2039.

After the judge’s crushing verdict and sentencing, weirdly, Najib’s out-of-touch daughter and UMNO member Nooryana Najwa Najib, randomly began posting on social media about her father’s so-called “lifetime of service.”

To which all Malaysians should immediately respond: “You mean more service to your corrupt family and himself, than to the Malaysian people.”

Conveniently, Nooryana didn’t post about her family’s stashed-away stolen billions, failed to reflect on her father’s total sentence of 165 years – let alone his 25 straight criminal convictions – nor did she even hint that her own vulgar family actually understands the seriousness of their actions.

It was Nooryana’s and her family’s usual collective arrogant snub at national development, public service – and of course – the rakyat itself.

She, along with her fellow UMNO disinformation artists, the ministers Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said and Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi (who both falsely claimed that Saudi royals had donated the stolen funds to Najib), underscore how corrupted the “Datuk/Datin” honorific titles system are. None of them deserve any of those titles.

UMNO’s decline in Malaysia is easy to track. Once at the top, the party lost most of its political power in a staggering 2018 landslide defeat over Najib’s brazen corruption – and it has been tumbling downhill ever since.

In the 2022 general election, UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN) won only 30 seats. Most recently in the Sabah state election, UMNO campaigned for 45 seats but won only six. Evidently, Malaysian voters are tired of UMNO’s nonsense promises and divisive Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) racism.

After 68 years of backwardness, UMNO is still Malaysia’s biggest problem. At a moment when the country deserves leaders who actually serve the people, UMNO has revealed that their ever-shrinking party is not just failing – it is also morally sick, bigoted and out of touch with Malaysians.

It should be completely voted out. 

UMNO top leaders played an enabling role in the 1MDB scandal and supported Najib in bullshitting the public.

Given the party’s collective responsibility, there is a strong case for UMNO to be banned.

— Roman Akramovich (@SyedAkramin) December 27, 2025

 

Corruption Watch is a reader of Focus Malaysia.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.

- Focus Malaysia.