Granting the convicted felon, Najib Abdul Razak, a royal pardon will open the flood gates to anger, and lead Malaysia down a path that will change the dynamics of the country.

How do you think the rakyat will react?

With a royal pardon, comparisons will be made. A desperate, unemployed father who was forced to steal to feed his children is jailed for three years. Najib who stole billions of ringgits has barely completed six months of his incarceration, and yet is allowed to roam free. Where is the justice?

Najib may be left smiling at his good fortune (of being released), but think how badly this will reflect on those who granted him the pardon?

The public will be wondering if the nation is in safe and capable hands.

Think how badly this will reflect on the prison population who probably stole less than Najib but received stiffer punishments.

The only difference is that they are not rich enough to afford a retinue of lawyers for the appeal process or find alternative solutions to be freed.

Think what it will do to the morale of the country.

We are already suffering the ill effects of the pandemic and global economic downturn, but Najib’s corruption will have crippled at least one or two generations of Malaysians forced to bear the brunt of Najib’s theft.

The money he stole could have been used to fund much needed public services like upgrading of schools, hospitals, infrastructure, or provide improved pay and work conditions to medical and teaching professions.

Just reflect on what foreign investors will think and do.

Industrialists will invest in a country with a stable political foundation, not one that is corrupt and lawless.

It is not just investors that we need to attract, but also tourist dollars.

A country that is tarnished because we are lenient with kelptocrats and corrupt leaders, does not augur well for our international image.

Malaysia has always had an impressive reputation overseas, but Najib spoiled that. If he were granted a royal pardon, we will be made a laughing stock.

Think of its effects on our judiciary.

Some Malaysians will wonder if justice is the privilege of the wealthy. Money can buy the super rich an endless round of lawyers willing to fight for them.

Perhaps a few will think that the judiciary is biased because the wealthy are given opportunity after opportunity of trying to find a legal loophole for release.

Granting Najib a royal pardon will open the flood gates to anger, and lead Malaysia down a path that will change the country’s dynamics.

Think of the reputation of the legal fraternity. Will their reputation sink like a lead balloon? Are they giving Najib sound advice or are they stringing him along and wasting Najib’s money and giving him false hope?

At the same time, taxpayers’ resources, money and manpower are unnecessarily wasted.

Each time there is a hearing, think of the time and money spent on the court officials, security details, reporters and policemen.

What is there to like about Najib?

He brought shame to the nation and his family.  He was given the responsibility of taking care of the nation, but he betrayed Malaysians by stealing from them.

He lied to the rakyat and sacked his critics. He lied to us and worse still was that members of his cabinet lied on his behalf, so much so that we lost trust in democracy and the institutions of state.

In 2017, Jeff Sessions, the then U.S. attorney-general described the 1MDB multi-billion dollar corruption scandal as the worst form of kleptocracy, and he said the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) would work towards providing justice to the victims.

Najib’s lengthy trial had been dogged by delays, and he was given ample opportunity to go through both the appeal and review processes.

He and his lawyers had tested the patience of the judiciary and general public, and despite his conviction being upheld, Najib is today still keen on pursuing a royal pardon.

Why? He is keeping to his selfish agenda!

Why put the country through yet another round of having to listen to him? His fingerprints were all over the place, and all the paper trails led to him.

The facts are that he stole, he was arrested, charged, and sentenced by three courts — High Court, Federal Court and Court of Appeal — and nine judges.

Last week, Najib’s review application in the RM42 million SRC International corruption case failed to quash his guilty verdict. The Federal Court bench, in a majority 4-1 verdict, rejected his review application.

Najib’s reason for demanding a royal pardon is based on the sole dissenting rule by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Abdul Rahman Sebli.

Who does Najib think he is? The narcissist has failed to express remorse for his actions. He never apologized for putting the nation through so much suffering!

Najib was found guilty by 13 judges and is clutching at straws if he thinks that he can demand a royal pardon just because of one dissenting judge.

However, many people will question the royal pardon.

Criminals who have committed less serious crimes are not given such privileges. Granting Najib a royal pardon, will have serious consequences on the nation.

Sources:

1. Reuters: Jeff Sessions calls Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal ‘kleptocracy at its worst’
2. Malaysiakini: Shafee: Dissenting judgment in SRC review opens another avenue

(Mariam Mokhtar is a Freelance Writer.)