M.Krishnamoorthy
A media coach, adjunct professor and author
Politicians want news suppressed if the political risk is too high. On 17 April 2024, reporters were not allowed into the chambers for the hearing on Najib Razak’s house arrest application.
Kleptocrat Najib’s house arrest issue is now haunting and delaying Anwar Ibrahim’s efforts to introduce reforms and unify the country.
The court case concerns the former King's decision to allow Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest. Observers ask if this is a long-term UMNO plan to destabilise Anwar’s leadership?
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamdi has confirmed an addendum order from the former King allowing Najib to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
The Umno president claimed the impugned document was shown to him by former Selangor Umno treasurer Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz at his house near Country Heights on Jan 30.
Since reporters were not allowed, lawyers and commentators were asking about the “addendum order”.
Lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdullah had these questions as published in an article in FMT.
Questions:
- If a purported “supplementary order” issued by the former king allowing Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest is genuine, then the government would be acting wrongly by “hiding” it. Why hide it or delay the release of the addendum?
- If the government were unhappy with the purported order, did it seek an audience with the former King and ask for clarification?
- Representatives from the government had the opportunity to meet former King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah when he was still in power for that purpose, as the pardon was granted one day before his term of office expired on January 30th Why was there not a meeting with the King?
- If the government felt the King’s command was invalid (under the Federal Constitution), why hide it?
On April 1, Najib commenced legal proceedings in the High Court to compel the government to produce a supplementary order purportedly issued by Al-Sultan Abdullah.
Najib claimed that Al-Sultan Abdullah issued the supplementary order during the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s meeting on Jan 29.
He alleged that the board did not announce the “addendum order” on Feb 2, and claimed the government was acting in contempt for not executing it.
In an affidavit filed supporting Najib’s application, which surfaced yesterday, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported to have confirmed the existence of the purported order issued on Jan 29.
During a meeting at the former's house, Zahid, the deputy prime minister, claimed to have viewed a copy of the purported order on Tengku Zafrul Aziz’s mobile phone.
In a shocking statement yesterday (17th April), Tengku Zafrul Aziz said he would seek to file his affidavit in the proceedings to correct “factual errors” in Zahid’s affidavit.
Umno Supreme Council member Isham Jalil asked:
- Whether home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had spoken the truth when he claimed to be unaware of the purported order.
- “If what Zahid said is true, then it makes it look like Saifuddin and the government lied and hid the matter,” he said in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, unity government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said the Cabinet had never discussed Najib’s court application or Zahid’s affidavit in support.
Anwar’s office had previously said it would not be making any statement on how it intends to deal with Najib’s legal challenge, while Saifuddin had said he has “not seen” any such order.
Senior government officials, who spoke earlier on condition of anonymity to Channel News Asia (CNA), acknowledged that Sultan Abdullah had issued a supplementary order regarding the house arrest before he completed his five-year reign at the end of January.
However, the officials noted that Attorney General Chambers had raised objections on the matter to the Anwar administration because the issue of house arrest for Najib was not discussed during the six-member Pardons Board's meeting on Jan 29. The officials declined to elaborate.
CNA report added: “In any case, Najib’s latest legal challenge has pushed the Anwar administration into an awkward corner, say analysts, as a government challenge on the former premier’s bid for house arrest would be viewed as tantamount to challenging the unfettered role of the country’s constitutional monarchy.”
Professor James Chin at the University of Tasmania told CAN the whole issue felt “very strange” as he was unsure how a royal document of that stature, if it does indeed exist, could remain under wraps for so long.
“My suspicion is that the government wanted this to be pushed by the Najib camp, so it looks like they're very reluctant to do it,” he said. “They can say that, ‘It’s really not us … We actually wanted to see Najib in jail.’”
“If the existence of the addendum is proven, Prof Chin said it will be difficult for Anwar to talk himself out of this issue as it involves his administration’s transparency with the public.
“If (Anwar went on to say that) he knew about the (addendum) order, why was he not transparent with the people of Malaysia?” Prof Chin asked.
Ultimately, Prof Chin believes Ahmad Zahid had little choice but to sign the affidavit because Najib's influence in UMNO remains “so strong”.
“If Najib comes out (of jail), it is very positive for UMNO because UMNO will get its number one warlord back,” he said, referring to how Najib as former UMNO chief before his downfall could unite the once-dominant party and more effectively conduct political lobbying and meet party leaders while on house arrest.”
Despite that, independent analyst Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani told CNA that Ahmad Zahid’s testimony would create a rift between himself and Anwar as he is undermining the Prime Minister and unity government.
“Everybody wants Najib to pay for his sins, but now it looks like he is going to get away with it,” Prof Chin said.
ends
Freelance Writer M. Krishnamoorthy (www.imkrishna.net) is a media coach, adjunct professor and undercover journalist. He has freelanced with Bernama, NST, The Star, and Malaysiakini. He also freelances as a fixer/coordinator for CNN, BBC, German and Australian Television networks and the New York Times. As an undercover journalist, he has highlighted society's concerns.
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