KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 6): The decision by the Pardons Board to reduce the sentence of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak contradicts the Malaysian government’s often stated commitment to tackling corruption and may instead signal that abuse of power and misappropriation of public funds are easily tolerated, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) has cautioned.

This, IDEAS said, would erode public trust in the administration that has publicly stated its intentions to implement institutional reforms and uphold good governance.

IDEAS chief executive officer Dr Tricia Yeoh said the public would attribute the decision by the Pardons Board to the current government as Federal Territories Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa and Attorney General Datuk Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh, who are appointed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, both sit on the board. 

"With their inclusion, the public may assume that the reprieve would have been considered with agreement from the current political leadership. The decision directly contradicts the Madani government’s commitment to tackling corruption, where in fact Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had ambitiously set a target for Malaysia to reach the top 25 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by 2033.

"Najib’s crime was directly related to the biggest corruption scandal in the nation’s history. The sentence reduction may, in fact, reverse the positive move Malaysia has most recently achieved in its latest ranking, having moved up four positions to 57th rank," Tricia said in a statement on Tuesday.

In addition, IDEAS said the decision will also have negative implications on the perception of the international business community towards Malaysia.

Moving forward, IDEAS called on the government to provide clarity over its position on democracy and good governance. Specifically, the public policy think tank urged the government to explain how it intends to renew its efforts towards combating corruption.

“If the government still intends to seriously combat corruption, the new National Anti-Corruption Strategy, which is slated to be launched soon, should state clearly what its plans are to strengthen the nation’s institutions so that a case of 1MDB and SRC, which have greatly drained the nation’s financial resources and severely damaged our international reputation, will never again occur," Tricia added.

Last Friday, the Pardons Board announced that the prison sentence against Najib had been reduced from 12 years to six years, and his fine to RM50 million from the original RM210 million.

The decision was made at the 61st Pardons Board meeting on Jan 29, which was chaired by the previous king Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.

Najib, 70, who has been serving his sentence at the Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, filed the petition for a royal pardon on Sept 2, 2022, less than a month into serving the sentence.

On July 28, 2020, the High Court found Najib guilty of three counts each of criminal breach of trust and money laundering, and one charge of abusing his position to embezzle RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds and sentenced him to 12 years’ jail and a fine of RM210 million.

His appeal against his conviction and sentence was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2021 and Aug 23 the following year by the Federal Court, leaving only a royal pardon as his last avenue for freedom.