Is Najib Razak getting a pardon for 1MDB-linked corruption? Malaysia waits with bated breath

Fevered speculation of a pardon, or significant reduction in the 70-year-old’s sentence, was stirred by a Monday meeting of Malaysia’s pardons board

The prospect of seeing the disgraced former leader walk free has triggered a wave of public anger – but there’s been no official announcement yet

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Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak waves as he leaves court in Kuala Lumpur last month. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:44pm, 1 Feb 2024

Mystery surrounds the fate of Najib Razak, jailed for 12 years for corruption linked to Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal, as the government on Thursday refused once more to tell an angry and restless public if the disgraced former leader will have his sentence reduced – or even be granted a full pardon.

When Federal Territories Minister Zaliha Mustafa, who sits on the pardons board, was cornered by the media on Thursday morning, she declined to give a clear answer on the most talked about issue in Malaysia, telling reporters to “continue waiting” for an official announcement.

Fevered speculation of an imminent pardon or a significant reduction in the 70-year-old Najib’s sentence was stirred by revelations that the pardons board met with the country’s former king, Sultan Abdullah, on the last day of his reign on Monday to decide on the matter.

Malaysia’s former king, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, looks on during an interview at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur last month. Photo: Reuters

Under Malaysian law, the power to pardon lies with the monarch, on the advice of the pardons board appointed by him.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was himself granted a full pardon by a previous king in 2018, allowing him to return to active politics after being released from prison following his incarceration in 2014 on sodomy charges.

When asked if the announcement would be coming sometime this week, Minister Zaliha said: “God willing, we hope so”.

Other ministers have played a similarly straight bat over the incendiary issue of Najib’s jail term, with Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail – who is in charge of prisons – saying that it was “discussed” informally in the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, but it was not his place to comment.