1MDB scandal: Malaysia’s Mahathir gives Najib a ‘50-50 chance’ of getting a royal pardon

‘He will come back and he wants to become the prime minister once again,’ said Malaysia’s longest-serving leader of the scandal-tainted Najib Razak

If a court upholds Najib’s 1MDB conviction this week, he would go to prison and wouldn’t be able to contest the next Malaysian general election

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Mahathir Mohammed, Malaysia’s former prime minister, pictured in Putrajaya on Monday. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 9:01am, 23 Aug 2022Updated: 12:22pm, 23 Aug 2022

Malaysia’s longest-serving leader Mahathir Mohamad saw a “50-50 chance” ex-prime minister Najib Razak will eventually receive a royal pardon in a case linked to 1MDB, the state fund that had billions of dollars siphoned and spread across the globe.

Mahathir, who was prime minister twice, said Malaysia’s king could extend a pardon to Najib in the same way current opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was given one back in 2018. Mahathir sought a full royal pardon for his former ally after they joined forces to win the elections that year on the back of public anger over Najib’s handling of 1MDB.

Their victory saw Najib’s Umno lose power for the first time in six decades. But Mahathir, 97, fell out with Anwar over an agreement to hand over power, leading to a collapse in government and the formation of a new administration with the support of Umno lawmakers.

Najib Razak is greeted by supporters as he attends a special prayer for his final appeal against a 12-year jail sentence linked to the 1MDB scandal at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Najib’s party eventually came back to power after the Malaysian monarch determined that Ismail Sabri Yaakob had the backing of a majority of lawmakers to become prime minister. Najib has since rehabilitated his image by criticising the economic policies of subsequent governments and publicly maintaining his innocence in the 1MDB scandal. That has helped him lead Umno to a series of state election victories.

“Suppose he is convicted and he’s jailed – of course he’s going to ask for a pardon,” Mahathir said on Monday in his office in the administrative capital of Putrajaya.

“There is that 50-50 chance that he will succeed in getting a pardon and returning to politics,” Mahathir added. “He will come back and he wants to become the prime minister once again.”

Representatives for Najib declined to comment. Najib had pleaded not guilty for all the charges related to 1MDB.