According to Law and Institutional Reform Minister Azalina Othman Said, a total of 41 out of 60 investigation papers (IPs) opened on criminal cases involving politicians between 2020 and July have been classified as “no further action” (NFA). In other words, roughly 68 percent — or two-thirds — of investigations into politicians ended quietly, with no charges.
High as that figure is, I doubt it reflects the full picture. If we break down those cases by whether the politician belonged to the ruling bloc at the time, the proportion of NFA outcomes could well be even higher. My suspicion is that most of the 19 remaining IPs involve opposition figures or individuals out of favour with those in power.
Azalina told the Dewan Negara that the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) “does not take into account the background of the individuals investigated” and that “the AGC’s assessment is based on facts, evidence, and applicable laws, taking into account the principles of integrity, transparency, and prosecutorial independence.” She also stressed that criminal files can be reopened at any time if new developments arise, noting that “unlike civil cases, there is no statute of limitations for criminal cases.”
While those assurances sound proper on paper, many Malaysians remain unconvinced. People have long observed a pattern: legal action against politicians tends to intensify only after they lose office or the patronage of those above them.
Najib Razak illustrates this starkly. During his tenure as prime minister, he appeared legally untouchable; once he lost power, the cascade of prosecutions became relentless — to the point that even after conviction and imprisonment, he still faces multiple cases. Similarly, Ismail Sabri and Muhyiddin Yassin faced no legal storm while sitting in the top job but encountered scrutiny once their grip on government slipped.
Anwar Ibrahim’s trajectory also underscores the link between political fortune and legal peril. Charged and jailed twice when out of power, he was swiftly pardoned after Pakatan Harapan’s 2018 election victory and released within a week. When his coalition returned to Putrajaya, the legal tide shifted in his favour.
The pattern is hard to ignore: politicians in power tend to enjoy a wide legal safety net, while those cast out often become targets. If they manage to return to power, charges are often dropped or cases quietly dismissed. For the public, this creates an unhealthy perception — that culpability is dictated not by law, but by one’s proximity to the corridors of power.
If such perceptions persist, voters may increasingly see regime change as the only reliable route to accountability — punishing the excesses of one political class by voting in its rivals. The risk is a perpetual cycle of throwing governments out, not necessarily to reward good governance, but simply to keep justice alive.
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