SHAH ALAM, April 21 — Whether Datuk Seri Najib Razak should serve the remainder of his SRC International Sdn Bhd conviction under house arrest instead of in prison is for the Pardons Board to decide, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.
He said this was the consensus of his unity government, even if not all parties were in favour.
“There are criticisms, including the deputy prime minister’s affidavit case, and I was also attacked.
“I don't understand what the problem is. I replied, ‘this encroaches the role of the Pardons Board and King’s decree’.
“That's the answer I gave based on discussions with the Attorney General and also information from the Sultan, and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” Anwar, who is also PKR president, said in his speech at the party’s 25th anniversary special convention here.
He said while the decision may not be one that sits comfortably with parties allied to the unity government, or others on the outside, no previous government has taken any action that oversteps the role and power of the Malay Rulers.
“And we defend that and if you don’t understand the decision, you don’t deserve to be a leading political speaker and commentator.
“Their agenda is just to attack (us). Our wisdom is focused on maintaining the government, not demolish the existing government, this includes Malay, Chinese and Indian public figures — issues must be handled with wisdom and not just to meet an agenda at the expense of demolishing the existing government,” he added.
Last Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was revealed to have been the critical witness who filed testimony in support of Najib’s bid to compel the federal government and the Pardons Board to produce a purported “supplementary order” from the previous Agong.
Ahmad Zahid claimed that Tengku Zafrul had affirmed the order’s existence during a meeting at the former’s house in Country Heights, Kijang on January 30.
In his application, Najib claimed the former King issued the order during the January 29 meeting of the board, for him to serve the remainder of his reduced sentence under house arrest.
Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Senator Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz had on Wednesday said he will apply to “correct certain factual errors” in a supporting affidavit for Najib to serve his remaining prison sentence at home.
Tengku Zafrul was responding to news of the document from Zahid that cited the former prime minister as affirming the existence of a supplementary order from the previous Yang Di-Pertuan Agong for Najib to see out the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
