Never afraid to air his thoughts in the open, ex-Umno MP Zaid Ibrahim has now waded into the controversy over Najib Razak’s purported “house arrest” decree by the country’s previous King Al-Sultan Abdullah.
In a recent post on the “X” platform, the flamboyant lawyer who had once fleetingly represented the now incarcerated ex-prime minister in the 1MDB-linked SRC International case, did not mince words, when he warned Umno that failure to get their ex-president out from prison will spell doom for the party.
According to him, at least with Najib under “house arrest" they may still stand a chance of surviving, or else they are almost certain to end up as a “dead duck” come the next general election in 2027.
The prominent lawyer who was the Kota Baru MP from 2004-2008 when he was with Umno, argued that the controversy over the house arrest, which is now turning into a crisis, came about because allegedly the unity government did not act on the royal pardon decree, prompting Najib to initiate legal action; he further alleged that PM Anwar’s government was hiding the information from the public!
For context, during a recent interview with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum 2024, Anwar had reportedly said that it was solely the King’s prerogative to decide whether his jailed predecessor Najib Razak could serve his remaining sentence under house arrest.
His comments then sparked a furore in the country with several leaders, including outspoken Umno warlord Puad Zarkashi demanding that there was no need to be defensive over the royal addendum order; instead he had called on Anwar’s government to just follow through on the said decree and execute it.
However, there were also some who had questioned whether Anwar was trying to absolve himself of blame by “passing the buck” to the country’s King?
This is because on one hand he may be forced to play safe by not wanting to offend his key coalition partner DAP while on the other hand he may want to endear himself to the Umno crowd by not blocking the royal decree for the said house arrest - if it really existed, that is!
Not surprisingly, amidst all the mixed signals and confusion, conspiracy theories have also started to swirl; apparently some are now alleging that granting a house arrest to the disgraced ex-Pekan MP will actually enable Anwar to secure a second term in Putrajaya as he may find himself in the good books of Umno supporters who are expected to flock back to the nationalist party. Furthermore, Najib himself will not be eligible to stand for election which will make Anwar’s position safe - at least for another term.
Meanwhile, Zaid had also pointed out that Umno has to be more assertive to pressure the government to deal with the matter in accordance with the law, adding that deputy prime minister Zahid Hamidi's recent affidavit alone, affirming that he had “sighted” the royal addendum decree, may not be enough. He had also mentioned that the high court may not be the place to bring closure to this issue.
Interestingly, the former de facto law minister further contended that since Umno had helped DAP to win the recent Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election, isn't it time they asked Anwar to return the favour?
Whatever it is, the situation doesn't seem to be getting any clearer with doubts remaining on the very existence of the addendum decree by the King with some even alleging that it could have been backdated or God forbid, fabricated!
There is no doubt this embarrassing impasse has left the entire country, from the King to the commoner, virtually in knots; in fact, it's somewhat comical too that not even experts from the legal fraternity in the country seem to be able to tell “for sure” if indeed it's perfectly legal to allow the granting of house arrest to any convict under the royal clemency order by the King; after all, there has never been a precedent for this in the country!
In any case, those who follow Malaysia's politics closely may tend to ask: what guarantee is there that granting Najib aka Bossku house arrest will put an end to all the unrest? On the contrary, won’t it embolden Umno to press for more concessions from the unity government, possibly even to “drop” all his ongoing cases?
After all, when everything else fails isn't there always the DNAA (discharge not amounting to acquittal) to fall back on? Being a shrewd, seasoned lawyer coupled with his deep Umno roots, wouldn't Zaid also be fully aware of this?
Information Source: Zaid Ibrahim “X” Platform and The Edge Malaysia
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