Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s veteran politician and leader of the opposition Mahathir Mohamed Predicted on Tuesday that the former Prime Minister was defamed Najib Razaki He will be released from prison if his corruption-tainted ruling party wins the upcoming general election.
Najib began his 12-year prison sentence in August after pleading guilty in the first of several cases involving the looting of billions of dollars from state funds. 1Malaysia Vikas Berhad (1MDB).
General elections are going to be held in the coming weeks after the arrival of the Prime Minister in Malaysia Ismail Sabri Yakub Parliament was dissolved on Monday due to pressure from factions in the ruling United Malay National Organization (UMNO), loyal to Najib and others accused of corruption.
Speaking a day later, Mahathir warned that the UMNO would hurry to release Najib from prison through a royal pardon and drop dozens of other corruption charges if he won the election.
“Should he be able to form the government and win, it is the first objective, not the welfare of the people,” Mahathir, who served twice as prime minister, told a news conference.
Mahathir said UMNO president Ahmed Zahid Hamidi will be criminally prosecuted, who is facing 47 corruption charges in a case related to 1MDB.
Both Najeeb and Zahid have pleaded not guilty, saying they are victims of political vendetta.
They were both prosecuted, along with other party leaders, after UMNO lost the 2018 election for the first time in Malaysia’s history as voters punished the party for 1MDB and other corruption scandals.
After leading the country for 22 years until 2003, Mahathir came out of retirement to form a coalition to defeat his former partner Najib, but that alliance broke in 2020, ending Mahathir’s second term as prime minister. Gaya and UMNO were allowed to have their way. in power.
Now aged 97, Mahathir has said he will defend his parliamentary seat in the election, and that he is willing to work with anyone to defeat UMNO.
UMNO is hoping to win a major mandate in the upcoming elections to form a government on its own, without coalition partners under Ismail’s administration.
Despite Najib’s claim of political vendetta, the 1MDB scandal has implicated financial institutions and high-ranking officials globally. At least six countries have launched investigations.
Investigators have said that about $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB co-founded by Najib during his first year as prime minister in 2009 – and more than $1 billion went to accounts linked to Najib.
The US Justice Department has called it its biggest kleptocracy investigation.
Najeeb has said that he was misled by 1MDB officials.
Other opposition leaders have also criticized UMNO for insisting on premature elections at a time when the economy is slowing down.
“One of UMNO’s explicit or implicit objectives in the general election is to free Najib and other heroes of the 1MDB scandal from criminal liability,” Lim Kit Siang, a leader of the opposition Democratic Action Party, said in a statement.
Najib began his 12-year prison sentence in August after pleading guilty in the first of several cases involving the looting of billions of dollars from state funds. 1Malaysia Vikas Berhad (1MDB).
General elections are going to be held in the coming weeks after the arrival of the Prime Minister in Malaysia Ismail Sabri Yakub Parliament was dissolved on Monday due to pressure from factions in the ruling United Malay National Organization (UMNO), loyal to Najib and others accused of corruption.
Speaking a day later, Mahathir warned that the UMNO would hurry to release Najib from prison through a royal pardon and drop dozens of other corruption charges if he won the election.
“Should he be able to form the government and win, it is the first objective, not the welfare of the people,” Mahathir, who served twice as prime minister, told a news conference.
Mahathir said UMNO president Ahmed Zahid Hamidi will be criminally prosecuted, who is facing 47 corruption charges in a case related to 1MDB.
Both Najeeb and Zahid have pleaded not guilty, saying they are victims of political vendetta.
They were both prosecuted, along with other party leaders, after UMNO lost the 2018 election for the first time in Malaysia’s history as voters punished the party for 1MDB and other corruption scandals.
After leading the country for 22 years until 2003, Mahathir came out of retirement to form a coalition to defeat his former partner Najib, but that alliance broke in 2020, ending Mahathir’s second term as prime minister. Gaya and UMNO were allowed to have their way. in power.
Now aged 97, Mahathir has said he will defend his parliamentary seat in the election, and that he is willing to work with anyone to defeat UMNO.
UMNO is hoping to win a major mandate in the upcoming elections to form a government on its own, without coalition partners under Ismail’s administration.
Despite Najib’s claim of political vendetta, the 1MDB scandal has implicated financial institutions and high-ranking officials globally. At least six countries have launched investigations.
Investigators have said that about $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB co-founded by Najib during his first year as prime minister in 2009 – and more than $1 billion went to accounts linked to Najib.
The US Justice Department has called it its biggest kleptocracy investigation.
Najeeb has said that he was misled by 1MDB officials.
Other opposition leaders have also criticized UMNO for insisting on premature elections at a time when the economy is slowing down.
“One of UMNO’s explicit or implicit objectives in the general election is to free Najib and other heroes of the 1MDB scandal from criminal liability,” Lim Kit Siang, a leader of the opposition Democratic Action Party, said in a statement.