DAP wants minutes on Najib’s conditional pardon made public

DAP has conveyed to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that it wants the minutes of the Federal Territories Pardons Board (FTPB) meeting on former prime minister Najib Razak’s conditional pardon made public.

DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook said the party hoped the minutes would be declassified, but the decision would depend on the attorney-general.

“We have conveyed our request to the prime minister, but there are procedures to declassify the minutes. When that happens depends on the attorney-general,” he said at a press conference when asked if DAP wanted the minutes made public.

Earlier, at the federal territories DAP convention, Loke told the delegates he acknowledged that Najib’s conditional pardon had raised many questions.

He said DAP was confident that federal territories minister Hannah Yeoh, who sits on the board, had conveyed the party’s position against allowing house arrest for those involved in major corruption scandals.

“Someone involved in a major corruption scandal should not be released or granted house arrest,” he maintained.

Najib was jailed in August 2022 after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million in SRC funds. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined RM210 million.

In January 2024, then king Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah exercised his pardon powers by halving Najib’s jail term and reducing his fine to RM50 million.

In September this year, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Ibrahim, granted Najib a further conditional pardon, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, subject to payment of his RM50 million fine and compliance with other stipulated conditions.

Najib has yet to pay the fine though Umno has launched a crowdfunding effort to help the former party president settle the amount.

CSA with Bersatu

Loke said DAP supported the government’s confidence and supply agreement (CSA) with six Bersatu MPs, adding that the Pakatan Harapan presidential council had agreed with the deal.

He said the agreement, formally described as a memorandum of understanding (MoU), would be open to all opposition MPs to ensure political stability without requiring them to join the government.

He cited a similar MoU signed between PH and then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob in 2021.

“That did not mean we supported Ismail at the time. We simply wanted to prevent attempts to bring down the government,” he said when asked about the CSA.

Loke said the agreement was intended to prevent a repeat of the political turmoil seen in 2020, although he repeated DAP’s call for equal allocations for MPs to be institutionalised.

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