As Malaysia’s Ahmad Zahid walks free, will 1MDB-plagued Najib Razak be next?
- Speculation is rife that Zahid’s reprieve was a gauge of public feeling over a potential release of Najib who is currently serving a 12-year jail term
- There are also signs of discontent in Anwar’s PH party as he tries to woo the Malay community – Najib’s allies – that mostly had gone for the opposition
Anwar became prime minister in November last year at the helm of a “unity government” to end years of political instability after an unexpected alliance with Barisan Nasional (BN), the bloc formerly led by Najib who was premier from 2009 to 2018.
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He has served one year so far. Yet he maintains his innocence, claiming he was the victim of politically motivated prosecution, a sentiment amplified at every opportunity by his party Umno and its president: Zahid.
Forty-seven charges linked to embezzlement against Zahid were suddenly dropped on Monday.
Speculation is now rife that reprieve was aimed to gauge public feeling towards the potential release of Najib.
The government needs to reassure the public it was not “testing the waters” with the dismissal of Zahid’s case, said the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, a group representing the ethnic Chinese community – who largely continue to support of Anwar’s multicultural Pakatan Harapan – around the national capital.
“The verdict in Zahid’s case has undermined the confidence of the people and civil society in the government’s efforts to combat corruption,” the group said in a statement.
Following lacklustre performance in the last two state elections as Malay voters flocked to the opposition, Anwar could harness Najib’s enduring popularity to regain lost ground, albeit at the risk of alienating his core base.
Anwar on Monday refuted suggestions of any interference by his office in the Zahid’s case.
Malaysians, long used to the broad powers held by prime ministers, are unconvinced by his denial, more so as the Attorney-General is appointed and reports directly to the prime minister.
Many now fear that Umno will be emboldened by the turn of events in Zahid’s case to push the prime minister to secure a pardon for his divisive predecessor, Najib.
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Supporters of PH, Anwar’s own coalition, have been hammered online since Zahid’s reprieve and as rumblings of Najib’s impending freedom get louder.
Banking executive Farizah Naim said that the news left her disillusioned with Anwar, a sign of the discontent from within his own camp he may ignite if Najib is released.
“I feel sad [that] our legal system and the national principles can be bent and twisted in order to maintain this unity government,” she said. “Is it worth it?”
Others, like businessman David Kwan, said he will no longer vote for PH.
“We used to fight for reform. What we get today is disappointment,” he said.
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Pardon coming?
Hints of a legal life jacket tossed to senior Umno figures mounted on Thursday when the Kuala Lumpur High Court acquitted senior Umno lawmaker Bung Moktar Radin and his wife from three counts of corruption involving 150 million ringgit (US$32 million).
Former Umno stalwart Khairy Jamaluddin used his popular podcast “Keluar Sekejap” to boldly forecast Najib would be out by next year.
“It’s coming. I’m sure Najib will not have to carry out his full punishment,” said Khairy, who was sacked from Umno in January for insubordination against the president.
Now Ahmad Zahid has “gotten what he wanted”, Khairy, a former health minister, said that the Umno president would take the lobbying for Najib’s release into overdrive, given that he owed his position to the former premier’s patronage.
“[Najib] supported Zahid, he has given blessing and support to the formation of the unity government,” Khairy said.
Najib is no longer Umno president, but he led the party while also prime minister from 2009 to 2018 and still holds the loyalty of many rank-and-file party supporters.
“Since he has the prerogative to advise the Pardons Board, if Najib gets a pardon, Anwar will continue to lose whatever credibility he still has,” political analyst Tunku Mohar Tunku Mokhtar from the International Islamic University said.
Najib’s Facebook page meanwhile has been actively sharing posts that allude to his innocence, including opinion pieces of former judges who wrote sympathetically of him.
In an op-ed published by Free Malaysia Today, former appellate court judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer echoed Najib’s key argument that he had been denied justice, saying the fact and matters of the case were “unprecedented in Malaysian legal history”.
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It was a reference to his botched attempt to delay his final appeal by appointing a new lawyer at the eleventh hour, which backfired after the Federal Court denied his application for a four-month postponement as well as refusing to allow the lawyer to recuse himself.
“Najib effectively ended up with no counsel to defend him, a denial of his constitutional right,” Hamid Sultan said of the matter.
But the court has also ruled in Najib’s favour.
In March, Najib and former 1MDB chief executive Arul Kandasamy were both acquitted of charges of tampering with the audit report of 1MDB after the court found that the prosecution filed to prove their case.
He is currently being tried in three other 1MDB-related cases, two of which have yet to be heard in court since being charged in 2018.
