Malaysia’s Umno seeks Najib’s pardon amid 1MDB scandal, while staying in PM Anwar’s coalition

The United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which for decades dominated Malaysian politics and remains a key member of the ruling coalition, is set to renew a push for the release of jailed former prime minister Najib Razak next week, even as it steps back from threats to quit the government.

Resolutions pushing for a full pardon and demanding justice for Najib were the “hottest topic” submitted by the party’s 191 divisions ahead of its annual assembly, Secretary General Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said at a briefing on Friday. Some 104 divisions submitted resolutions calling for the release of Najib, who has multiple convictions for his role in the 1MDB fraud that cost the country billions.

The resolutions show the strength of support retained by Najib, 72, who last month lost a bid to serve the remainder of a six-year prison sentence at home. He was subsequently convicted of abuse of power and money laundering, and handed a US$2.8 billion fine and a further 15 years in prison. All the convictions were in connection with 1MDB, a failed state-run fund whose collapse sparked probes from Singapore to Switzerland.

Asyraf said that despite recent calls for the party to leave Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government – triggered by another coalition member’s gloating over Najib’s failed bid for house arrest – no resolution to withdraw has been submitted to the party ahead of the meeting.

Umno Youth chief Akmal Saleh last week called for the party to leave the government. The youth wing would propose that Umno revive its cooperation with the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has previously shot down suggestions that the party should leave the government, reiterating a commitment to remain in the coalition until the next nationwide election that must be held by early 2028. Ahmad Zahid serves as deputy prime minister in Anwar’s cabinet, and saw his own corruption case dropped by prosecutors days before the assembly, which runs from January 14 through January 17.