House arrest for Najib
could see Umno quit unity
govt, says PKR man
Faiz Na’aman says with Umno in the opposition, its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will be forced to seek new allies.
In a statement, Faiz Na’aman said this could lead to Umno becoming the opposition and forcing them to seek new political allies to form a government either before or after the 16th general election (GE16).
“I personally believe that Najib’s release from prison will be exploited by his supporters, as they are against the current Umno leadership.
‘They will pressure the Umno president to resign and leave the government,” the former Bersatu Supreme Council member said.
Faiz added that such political uncertainty could impact the country’s economy.
He said if Najib is granted house arrest, Perikatan Nasional (PN) would be hoping that he could influence his supporters to throw their weight behind its bid to take over the government.
On Jan 6, Najib obtained leave to begin judicial review proceedings to compel the government to execute a purported supplementary decree issued by the former king, Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, allowing him to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest.
His lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, also submitted a letter from the comptroller of the Pahang royal household confirming the existence of the said addendum.
The Federal Territories Pardons Board (FTPB), which is chaired by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, announced on Feb 2 last year that Najib’s prison sentence in his SRC International case had been halved from 12 years to six, and his fine reduced from RM210 million to RM50 million.
The former prime minister is currently serving his jail sentence at Kajang prison.
Najib claimed that the former king, during an FTPB meeting on Jan 29, 2024, also issued a supplementary decree allowing him to serve the remainder of his reduced jail term under house arrest.
He said the FTPB had omitted to announce the terms of the supplementary decree and that the government was in contempt for not complying with it.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the house arrest decree, dated Jan 29, was sent to then attorney-general Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh, who sent it to Istana Negara after Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor ascended the throne.
Al-Sultan Abdullah ended his term of office as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Jan 30 last year. The next day, Sultan Ibrahim took his oath of office to begin his term as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
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