Explainer | What to know about Najib’s house arrest bid in Malaysia and the existence of a royal ‘decree’

Jailed for corruption linked to state firm 1MDB, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is determined to be freed from prison and transferred to house arrest. To do so, he must first prove the existence of a “supplementary decree” that he claims was issued by the former king, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence in the comfort of his own home. The problem is that nobody seems to know if the decree actually exists—and if they do, they are being extremely cautious about confirming it. That is because the issue concerns the top of Malaysia’s power structure and has the potential to trigger public backlash. Najib’s freedom bid has also opened old wounds inside Anwar Ibrahim’s governing coalition, potentially harming public confidence in the prime minister’s reform agenda, which includes ending Malaysia’s culture of impunity for corruption. Here’s what you need to know about a saga with many twists and turns ahead. Decree, what decree? Last April, Najib filed a court application to force the government to confirm the existence of, and implement, a supplementary decree he claimed was issued by Malaysia’s former king, allowing his release into house arrest. Two months earlier, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah halved Najib’s jail term from 12 years to six, in one of his last acts before completing his five-year reign as king. Najib’s lawyers argued that the house arrest order was an “addendum” to the then-king’s original decree, enabling his transfer from Kajang prison in Selangor state to his home in Kuala Lumpur. Najib has accused the government of refusing to respond to repeated requests to confirm the document’s existence in a bid to stymie his release. A Kuala Lumpur high court threw out Najib’s application in July, ruling that the government had no legal obligation to respond – and that supporting affidavits by two leaders from his former ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) were “hearsay”. That seemed to end the house arrest issue. But Malaysia’s Court of Appeal opened a new can of worms last week. It ruled that Najib can continue to push the government to act on the supplementary decree, returning the issue to the High Court for trial. Who is against it? The government has issued several statements since the Court of Appeal’s decision, denying that it has attempted to bury the purported document in any way. The issue is extremely sensitive as Malaysia’s monarchy – shared by the nation’s nine royal families on rotating five-year terms – is seen as beyond reproach as the country’s figurehead of Islam and Malay culture. The king can commute prison sentences and grant full pardons, typically on the recommendations of a pardons board that would include the prime minister and attorney general. On Sunday, Anwar said the document was sent only to the attorney general, and not to him or any other member of the pardons board. “The attorney general then forwarded the document to the palace when there was a change of king, as it is the king who chairs the pardons board. We did not hide anything,” Anwar was quoted as saying by national newswire Bernama. In a contortionist’s act, Anwar somehow managed to stop short of confirming whether the royal order on Najib’s house arrest actually exists. Trading favours Najib was previously president of Umno, the once dominant party of government. It joined Anwar’s coalition in 2022 at Sultan Abdullah’s request to end three years of political chaos. Despite his jailing, Najib remains highly influential in Umno and the party has made significant efforts to lobby for his release. Welcoming the Court of Appeal’s order on the house arrest decree issue, Umno President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi last week urged the current king – Sultan Ibrahim – to grant Najib a full pardon. Umno’s stance has renewed friction with Prime Minister Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan coalition, unsettling the fragile peace between the once sworn political enemies. “Umno is now in government, but they cannot be quiet [about Najib’s house arrest bid] because Umno needs to return as the major party,” political analyst Syaza Farhana Mohamad Shukri said. “They need to ‘rescue’ Najib because they think he can then rescue Umno,” said Syaza, who heads the political science department at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. But Umno has lost support, driven by public anger over allegations of rampant corruption and misuse of taxpayers’ funds through 1MDB – which Najib founded early in his nine-year premiership from 2009 to 2018. What are Najib’s odds of release? Najib must now wait for the Kuala Lumpur high court to set fresh dates for his hearing. This process could take months, and the trial itself may last for years. While he is unlikely to be released from prison any time soon, his supporters continue to hope for direct intervention from the king. And few rule out the options for a wily political operator like Najib. In a January 3 statement ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing, the national palace said any request for a pardon or a reduced sentence must be submitted by the convict to the pardons board chaired by the king. “All parties are reminded to respect the Constitution and law,” the palace said. Politically, the house arrest bid puts Anwar and his unity government on precarious ground. Ahead of Najib’s Court of Appeal hearing, Umno had planned to rekindle its partnership with Islamist opposition party PAS by organising a solidarity rally in support of the former prime minister. However, Umno ultimately pulled out of the rally after receiving a rebuke from the king, but not before ruffling feathers across all sides of the political spectrum and among the public. The issue has the potential to ignite Malaysia’s combustible politics – just as Anwar appears to be strengthening his position. Even if Najib secures house arrest, his political comeback hopes would be severely limited by a five-year ban on convicts taking part in politics after completing their sentence. At 71, he would need a full royal pardon to immediately re-enter the political arena. “Umno generally believes that Najib did not get justice in his cases,” said Universiti Teknologi Mara political analyst Mazlan Ali. Umno is likely to consolidate around Najib should he be successful in his bid to be released into house arrest, he added. But any further decision in favour of Najib’s house arrest bid will intensify public and political criticism of Anwar, who supporters said has all but abandoned his reform agenda. “If Anwar and [Umno president] Zahid Hamidi fail to manage this issue properly, it has the potential to affect [cohesion and support for] the unity government,” Mazlan said.

Explainer | What to know about Najib’s house arrest bid in Malaysia and the existence of a royal ‘decree’

The controversy is growing, as the government evades confirming its existence while Umno pushes for Najib’s release, straining the fragile unity government