KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak is among the nominees put forth by the United Malays National Organisation’s (UMNO) division in Pekan, Pahang to contest there during the upcoming general election.
According to Malaysian media reports, Najib, who is currently serving a 12-year jail term, is among the five names that have been put forth for the Pekan contest.
“There are no plans to place Najib’s children to contest the Pekan parliamentary seat if he is not eligible to contest,” Pekan UMNO division deputy head Zamri Ramly told Utusan Malaysia.
“Instead, whoever is chosen for the seat will return it to Najib if he gets pardoned.”
Najib, 69, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2018, was convicted for the misappropriation of RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
He was sent to jail on Aug 23 after the Federal Court upheld the conviction and sentence by the High Court in July 2020 when he was found guilty on all the seven charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power.
Najib has filed for a royal pardon and a review to overturn his conviction. Until there is an outcome, he will not be able to run for GE15.
Despite this, Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has been rather vague as to whether his client will seek to stand in GE15.