After court's guilty verdict, what's in store for Najib Razak?

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Court’s guilty verdict on Datuk Seri Najib Razak may impact the former Prime Minister's political career but will not affect his popularity among supporters, says a political analyst.

Mujibu Abd Muis of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) explained that Najib’s status as a convict would firstly lead to his disqualification in participating in the next general elections.

“Given that he is almost 70, time is not on his side,” he told Astro Awani.

“But there are several cases where the convict may have a prolonged political career after they have settled their sentence, such as Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.”

Mujibu noted there was also the possibility of Najib receiving a royal pardon, similar to that of Anwar for his sodomy charges in the past.

The Federal Court upheld Najib’s conviction and sentence in the SRC International case earlier today.

He is set to begin a 12-year prison sentence immediately, making him the first Malaysian premier to be jailed.

Following the verdict, Mujibu said it was worth observing how Najib’s absence could leave a void within UMNO and his constituency in Pekan, Pahang.

He added that now would be a good opportunity for UMNO to offer leadership opportunities to other members in Pahang instead of maintaining the “Tun Razak legacy”.

“This will be some kind of testament to his legacy, whether his political dynasty lives on in Pekan and whether the Pekan UMNO division will agree to replace Najib with his son or somebody else.”

In the days to come, said Mujibu, Malaysia should also look out for announcements of the 15th general elections (GE15) soon.

He expected UMNO to further push party vice-president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to dissolve Parliament.

“The verdict highlights that the culture of political corruption is not going to change with UMNO in the realm of Malay political leadership.

“They know the longer they wait, the more it will affect their reputation.”

Mujibu added that it would be interesting to see if the Prime Minister would decide to maintain political integrity or toe the party line.

Ismail previously said he was still undecided on the timing of GE15, citing economic uncertainty and political instability.

On July 28, 2020, Najib was convicted on all seven charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power over misappropriating RM42 million of funds belonging to SRC International. He was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment along with a fine of RM210 million.

In December last year, the Court of Appeal unanimously upheld his conviction and sentence.