PN’s stance on Najib’s pardon to test Pejuang’s principles

An analyst sees Pejuang as being at a crossroads of sorts in the wake of former prime minister Najib Razak’s conditional pardon and the manner in which its fellow Perikatan Nasional partners have welcomed it.

Asrul Hadi, associate vice-president at The Asia Group, said Pejuang faced a test of its principles concerning its relatively new PN membership, having been a vocal critic of Najib and championing itself as a party at the forefront of the fight against corruption.

Asrul said opposition to Najib and the political culture linked to the 1MDB scandal was fundamental to Pejuang’s formation, setting it apart from other Malay-based parties.

“If Pejuang dilutes its anti-corruption position simply to retain access to PN’s machinery, it may survive organisationally but become politically irrelevant because voters will no longer understand what it represents,” he told FMT.

Asrul acknowledged that Pejuang, which was formed by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2021, was already weak, and that leaving PN risked inviting political irrelevance.

However, he said the PN it had joined was not the same entity led by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, with PAS now in the driver’s seat and appearing increasingly Najib- and Umno-friendly.

Prolonged ambiguity over the matter could alienate some of Pejuang’s already few leaders and members, he warned.

Asrul also said there might be little space for Pejuang under a PN-Barisan Nasional pact, given that any electoral arrangement would prioritise Umno, PAS and opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin’s Wawasan.

“Umno has the established Malay nationalist brand and machinery, PAS has the grassroots network, and Hamzah’s Wawasan brings elected representatives and former Bersatu networks.

“Pejuang risks being treated as a peripheral partner. It must decide whether access to PN’s electoral machinery is worth the erosion of its identity and whether PN’s principal actors believe they need Pejuang at all.”

Under the conditional pardon for his SRC International conviction, Najib will be allowed to serve the remainder of his jail term at home if he pays his RM50 million fine, an already reduced amount from the initial RM210 million fine.

Umno has launched a fund to help its former president settle the fine, while PAS said it believed Najib could contribute to the country even while he remained under house arrest. Wawasan said it was grateful the decision had put an end to the polemic surrounding Najib’s pardon.

However, Pejuang information chief Rafique Rashid Ali called for clarity on the mechanism and conditions for inmates to be granted house arrests, warning against only allowing this arrangement for elites.

Asrul described Rafique’s statement as “careful”, subtly asserting Pejuang’s position on Najib without questioning the king’s constitutional power to pardon or directly confronting PAS and Umno.

“He may also be testing how much room Pejuang has to retain an independent identity within PN. Eventually, however, the party must show whether it will defend that position when doing so carries a real political cost.”

Pragmatism and survival more essential

However, Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid said Pejuang needed to be more pragmatic about the matter, pointing out that the party’s long-term relevance and existence were at stake.

Remaining in PN could allow Pejuang to win a couple of seats in Parliament, he said, and even possibly a spot in the Cabinet if the coalition went on to form and lead the government after the next general election.

He added that all these factors determined a party’s sustainability and relevance.

Fauzi said Pejuang could opt to take a more principled stand on Najib and corruption in general in internal discussions within PN.

“Pejuang’s presence in PN may also prove crucial to the coalition as it shows PN’s internal democracy by tolerating dissent. Plus, not all in PN would tolerate BN’s mollycoddling of Najib, even as BN’s relationship with PN grows closer.”

He added that Rafique’s statement was unlikely to affect ties with PAS or Umno, as Mukhriz Mahathir was Pejuang’s president and had not touched on Najib’s pardon.

“So long as Mukhriz is silent on the matter, they shouldn’t suspect that Pejuang might be interested in stepping out of PN’s official line as yet,” he added.

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