Umno accused of not taking Najib's royal pardon seriously

SHAH ALAM - Umno's lack of seriousness regarding the royal pardon for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been criticised.

Former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said that Umno has not made any efforts to convince the public about the necessity of the royal pardon.

He pointed out that no specific details have been provided regarding the justification or purpose of the pardon.

Zaid emphasised that to make the pardon successful, other considerations need to be taken into account instead of just submitting a petition that has yet to be made public.

"What is clear is that Umno has remained silent about submitting the petition to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, and the decision has not been revealed," he said.

Zaid further noted that Umno has only made promises without fulfilling them, leading members to believe that the party's leaders are merely assisting Najib.

"That is why Umno is unlikely to succeed in the upcoming state elections, and people will question the party's current promises," he added in a tweet on Tuesday.

Zaid cited examples such as former US President Barack Obama, who disagreed with the reasons for granting a lighter prison sentence to Chelsea Manning, the individual who revealed military secrets.

He also mentioned former US president Gerald Ford, who pardoned Richard Nixon, acknowledging that Congress was correct in impeaching him but felt that a pardon was necessary for national peace.

Additionally, Zaid referred to former South African presidents Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk, who granted pardons to criminals after the Apartheid era in order to rebuild the nation.

Zaid brought up the topic of the royal pardon while discussing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) investigation, which found no criminal offense committed by High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who sentenced Najib to 12 years in prison and imposed a fine of RM210 million.

"The reason for the pardon is irrelevant, but it could be used to divert attention from the government's decision regarding the royal pardon," he added in the same tweet.