Najib's house arrest plan backfires on Anwar's own 'full' & allegedly 'unconstitutional' pardon from sodomy
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim found himself under fire - with his own seat in Parliament under question - following a shouting match in the august house over a proposal for house arrest for his ally, the disgraced ex-premier Najib Razak.
If what Takiyuddin Hassan, the Pas representative for Kota Baru, told Parliament is true - then Anwar may find himself out of a seat, a development that will effectively end his days as the country's 10th prime minister.
"Under the Constitution, what is provided is for a person to be granted a pardon and set free and the person is barred from contesting in the election for the next five years," Takiyuddin was reported as saying.
"But, in this instance, a full pardon was granted which is not provided for under the Constitution. And the person was allowed to contest in a by-election."
TOO REMOTE A CHANCE TO DISQUALIFY ANWAR FROM TAMBUN
PM Anwar Ibrahim
While Takiyuddin refrained from mentioning Anwar by name, opting instead to mock the PM much like how a cat would toy with a rat before delivering the killer blow, it was clear exactly who that "person" was.
In 2022, a day after Mahathir Mohamad was installed as the 8th prime minister after leading Anwar's Pakatan Harapan coalition to victory in the 14th general election, Anwar's "full pardon" was announced.
Anwar had been sentenced to five-years jail in 2014 over a second conviction for sodomy - with the first in 1998 where he was found guilty of the act with a different victim. Sodomy is still deemed illegal in conservative Muslim Malaysia.
The Anwar pardon was granted by the then King, who was also the Kelantan sultan, and Anwar instead of having to wait the prescribed five years returned to Parliament and active politics after winning the Port Dickson by-election some five months later in October 2018.
At that time, there was much criticism and allegations of abuse of power and process but Anwar supporters turned a deaf ear to the protests while Mahathir, as the then leader of the country and the only one powerful enough to stop it, gave his tacit consent.
In any case, the 77-year-old Anwar won PD by a landslide margin of 23,560 votes and as they say, the rest is history.
No doubt the 99-year-old Mahathir, now in hospital for a lung infection, might well be rueing that fateful day especially as Anwar has since embarked on a streak of what has been called 'the politics of revenge' by raking up a barrage of corruption charges against the grand old man's sons as well as against his long-time confidant Daim Zainuddin.
"Of course the chance of making Anwar resign as PM because his pardon may not have been constitutional is extremely remote," a veteran political watcher told PoliticsNow Malaysia.
"But while PD may be academic, Tambun is actually still within the five-year time frame mentioned by Takiyuddin. However you can be sure Anwar will use the full powers of his office to fight anyone who tries to take it from him."
The pundit was referring to the Tambun seat, which Anwar won in the 2022 general election that swept him to the top rungs of power and handed him the PM's chair that he had coveted for decades.
MYSTERY & MURKINESS SURROUND NAJIB'S 'ADDENDUM ORDER'
On Thursday (October 24), Takiyuddin, a trained lawyer, was needling the government Members of Parliament with the hottest political topic of the day - a special new law that many speculate was aimed to pave the way for Najib to serve out the remainder of his jail sentence at home instead of at the Kajang prison.
The 71-year-old Najib was put behind bars in August 2022 after being found guilty of having embezzled RM42 million in funds belonging to SRC International, a 1MDB-linked unit. And after taking into account the royal reduction, the ex-PM, who oversaw Malaysia's quickest and most expansive phase of economic growth, is due to be released in 2028.
The King, who was then the sultan of Najib's Pahang hone state, had halved Najib's 12-year jail sentence to six as well as cut a RM210 million fine to just RM50 million. A mystery 'addendum order' was also allegedly signed by the King, allowing Najib to serve out his reduced sentence under house arrest.
Takiyuddin, the chief whip for the PN main opposition bloc, questioned if there were further details accompanying the King's pardon for Najib that have been kept under wraps from the public.
He also asked about a recent sworn affidavit filed by a "Deputy Prime Minister", whereby the DPM had stated he was aware of the addendum. Takiyuddin too asked if other Cabinet ministers including the Prime Minister were aware of the document.
The senior opposition politician was immediately shouted down by government reps including the likes of DAP's RSN Rayer, who interjected and insisted that Takiyuddin is not allowed to refer to the King's attributes or decisions during debates as stated under the House's Standing Order 38(8).
Yet the issue is one of great public interest and Takiyuddin would have failed his voters had he held his tongue. Most Malaysians had protested Najib's reduction in sentence and are now appalled at the prospect that he could get away with house arrest.
The former Umno president's massive corruption scandals were the reasons why his Umno-BN coalition had lost their six-decade-long political hegemony and control over the country. That he could be free to serve out his sentence in any one of his super-luxurious homes has offended many of the Malaysians who queued for long hours under the sun just to vote him and the Umno-BN out of power.
HOUSE ARREST MAY BE THE BEST LAW TEAM ANWAR TABLED FOR THEMSELVES?
The way the Anwar administration has handled the issue by trying to shroud it with as much secrecy as possible and using the King as an excuse for refusing to make transparent disclosures has also angered the people.
Indeed the political temperature in the country is fast turning against Anwar and his pack of perceived political barking dogs. Once respected as a reformist politician or someone who would change and clean up corruption-riddled Malaysia, Anwar now stands accused of striking a secret deal before the 2022 election with Najib and Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, who is also the Umno president.
The trio have denied the accusations that they had a pact to back each other, with the spoils being that Anwar was to finally get to become the PM, Zahid to be freed from the 47 corruption charges the government had filed against him and Najib a pardon similar to Anwar's or failing which, a house arrest option.
"It won't surprise anyone if Anwar and his unity government lost power in the next general election. It would be a great irony but not a major surprise if that happened. And hopefully for them, the next government that replaces them won't find any graft or abuses linked to them or team Anwar may well be happy they tabled the proposed House Arrest Bill. It would be very useful for themselves then!" said the political watcher.
Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow Malaysia
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/
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