Amid all this sounds, Najib’s hopes for serving his prison time under house arrest or obtaining a full pardon that did liberate him from his legal troubles, are nowhere near the horizon, politicians, lawyers and the original leader’s individual supporters noted.
But that has not stopped Malaysia’s opposing political parties, especially the country’s cultural Malay politicians, from turning Najib’s legal problem into a hot-button problem that has put the Anwar state on the backfoot and raised questions about his president’s management of the noisy situation.  ,
STAYING POLITICALLY RELEVANT
What transpired this week gives Najib a political boost to maintain his political relevance with his supporters, and it raises questions about how the ( Anwar ) government handled the situation overall. However, very little else has changed, according to former MP Charles Santiago, a member of the ruling coalition’s Political Action Party.
A top prosecutor, who is portion of Najib’s legal team and requested not to be named, added:  ,” The courts will have to notice the house arrest addendum matter, and this could get another two to three years with appeals and additional court delays”.
In any case, the ongoing ruckus has forced , Anwar to change tact and weigh in on the issue on Saturday.
No additional documents related to the former premier’s request for pardon were filed with the government, according to a statement released by the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department a day earlier.
This was the first time the Anwar administration had implied that the former king had made a declaration independently of the Pardons Board.
Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan said the Malaysian government has filed an oral request for a so-called “gag order” on the contentious Najib addendum issue in a fresh twist on Monday ( Jan 13 ), to put a stop to any public discussion.
The government must submit a formal application by January 20th, according to the High Court’s order.  ,
DIVISIVE FIGURE
Najib, who was sent to prison in August 2022 after the Federal Court, the highest judicial body, upheld his conviction for corruption and a 12-year jail sentence from the country’s Appeals Court and the High Court, remains a divisive figure in Malaysian politics.
That’s because of his lingering influence over UMNO.