Jailed ex-Malaysian PM Najib to be on BN's Pekan candidates list, says an Umno leader

Najib is currently the Pekan MP pending a decision on his application for a royal pardon. PHOTO: REUTERS

PETALING JAYA - Jailed former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak will be named as one of Barisan Nasional (BN)'s five potential candidates for the parliamentary seat of Pekan in Pahang, said a local Umno leader.

Pekan Umno division deputy chief Zamri Ramly said Najib, who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for graft linked to 1MDB, has been Pekan MP since 1976, except for the 1982 - 1986 term when he was Menteri Besar of Pahang.

Najib was also fined RM210 million (S$64.4 million) by the court following the guilty verdict for graft in the case involving SRC International, a company formerly a unit of troubled state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

"There are no plans for Najib's children to contest the parliamentary seat even if he is not eligible to contest," Mr Zamri was quoted as saying by Malay daily Utusan Malaysia. "Instead, whoever is chosen will return (the seat) to Najib, if he gets pardoned."

However, Mr Zamri declined to reveal the other four names.

Najib is currently the Pekan MP pending a decision on his application for a royal pardon. Najib has also applied for a review of the Federal Court’s decision to uphold his conviction and sentence .

Responding to the news, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday that the Pekan Umno division in Pahang be provided with a copy of the Federal Constitution.

“I think someone should send them (a copy) of the Federal Constitution,” Anwar said in jest, as quoted by Malaysiakini news site. “They need to understand (why the idea is not viable). And I suggest that one of Umno's lawyers advise them,” he added.

Under the Federal Constitution a person is disqualified as a Member of Parliament or from contesting if he or she had been imprisoned for a term of not less than a year or fined not less than RM2,000.

Previously, Najib's eldest son, Datuk Mohd Nizar Najib, has been as a potential candidate for the seat.

Mr Nizar, 44, has long been groomed to be a successor to his father in politics.

He is currently the youth chief of the Umno division in Pekan.

Mr Zamri said Mr Nizar, has been earmarked to contest a state seat in the constituency.

There are four state seats under the Pekan - Chini, Bebar, Peramu Jaya and Pulau Manis.

An accountant by profession and a father of five, Mr Nizar is Najib's eldest son from his first marriage to Tengku Puteri Zainah Tengku Eskandar.

He has two younger siblings and two step-siblings from Najib's second marriage to Rosmah Mansor, who is also facing corruption charges.

Pekan has been held by Najib's family since 1959 . Najib's father Abdul Razak Hussein, the second prime minister of Malaysia, held the Pekan parliamentary seat from 1959 until his death in 1976.

Najib, then only 23, was thrust into the spotlight by his father's sudden death and became Pekan MP the same year, holding the seat till today.

Even when BN lost the general election for the first time in Malaysian history in 2018 under Najib's leadership, he comfortably retained Pekan, with a majority of more than 24,000 votes. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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