No homecoming for Malaysia’s ex-PM Najib as request for house arrest remains under review

KUALA LUMPUR – Despite rumours of a possible early release from jail if granted house arrest, former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s appeal to the Pardons Board remains under review.

UMNO, the leading party in unity government ally Barisan Nasional, may have to wait a while longer before celebrating the return of its former president.

On Sept 11, the Federal Territories Pardons Board, chaired by Malaysia’s King, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor, said after a meeting that the decision on Najib’s application has been deferred.

“His Majesty also consented to defer the pardon of Najib in the upcoming scheduled Pardons Board meeting,” said the Law Department of the Prime Minister’s Department in a statement on Sept 11. It is not known when the next meeting will be.

Najib, 73, was the country’s prime minister for nine years. He was arrested in July 2018 and charged with breach of trust and abuse of power in a case linked to Malaysia’s state fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

He was convicted by the court and, in August 2022, started serving a 12-year jail sentence for misappropriating RM42 million (S$13 million) of funds from SRC International, a company that had been under 1MDB.

The jail sentence was halved in 2024 by the then Malaysian King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, who chaired a Pardons Board meeting. Najib’s original fine of RM210 million was also reduced to RM50 million.

Since then, Najib has been pursuing a legal bid to compel the government to confirm and execute an “addendum order”, which he claimed was also issued by Abdullah to the Pardons Board and entitled him to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.

Late in 2025, the High Court ruled that the addendum was unenforceable because it had not been considered by the Pardons Board.

Consequently, it was deemed unconstitutional, as royal prerogative must be exercised only on the board’s advice.

And there is still the High Court ruling in December 2025 to abide by. Najib had been sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison after being found guilty in his second major 1MDB trial.

He was also fined RM11.4 billion, in default of which he would serve another 10 years in prison. That sentence will run after Najib completes his jail term from the earlier case, which is scheduled to end in August 2028.

At UMNO’s annual general assembly on Sept 11, party president Zahid Hamidi initially expressed hope for “good news” regarding Najib’s pardon in his speech at the event.

After the Pardons Board decision was announced, Zahid told the media that he felt “sadness yet respect” for the King’s decision.

In his speech, Zahid repeated his call for Malaysia’s next general election, which is due in February 2028, to be held early.

“The time has come,” he said, referring to the election. “This is not a demand, nor an order. But it is the will of the people.”

The Deputy Prime Minister, whose speech was peppered with thinly veiled criticism of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, said “enough is enough” and that UMNO should be given the chance to lead.

“If we are going in for a fight, we might as well fight to win,” he told thousands of UMNO delegates.

Should UMNO move on from Najib?

At the UMNO general assembly, some members were disappointed that Najib had not been granted a pardon, despite talk that he would be.

Pahang UMNO grassroots member Nuraina Saidi, 27, told The Straits Times: “I’m sad for his family – to be given hope, only to be disappointed later. Najib is already serving his sentence. The issue of a pardon should not be politicised.”

Ahmad Fahmi Sanusi, 42, from Johor UMNO, said the party should focus on winning over voters at the next election, rather than remaining preoccupied with Najib.

“There is no need to uphold the wrong sentiment,” he told ST. “A wrong is a wrong.”

Political analyst Adib Zalkapli said UMNO can choose to move on from Najib or make his release an election issue.

“If UMNO refuses to move on, tensions within the unity government will remain, as UMNO leaders will continue to push for Najib’s release,” Adib, managing director of geopolitical risk firm Viewfinder Global Affairs, told ST.

Political analyst Phoon Wing Keong said Anwar and his ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition face tremendous pressure over Najib’s pardon.

“It’s an uncrossable red line for Anwar and PH. Otherwise, PH will lose even more progressive and urban voter support to Bersama,” Phoon, the head of Chinese community think-tank Huayan Policy Institute, told ST.

Bersama is a splinter party led by former Parti Keadilan Rakyat deputy president Rafizi Ramli, who remains at odds with Anwar. 

Phoon said calls within the Democratic Action Party (DAP) – the largest component party in the Anwar-led government – for its ministers to quit the Cabinet may resurface should Najib be released. 

This comes after DAP voted to remain in Anwar’s administration in August, despite growing grassroots frustration over the slow pace of reform.