Anwar said there was no conflict of interest with him sitting on the board as the final decision on granting pardons lies with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“There is no conflict of interest (on my part). The (pardon) process has to be followed and the final decision is solely at the discretion of the Agong,” he told reporters after an event here.
Anwar said it was premature to comment on Najib’s pardon application as Umno had only yesterday asked the Agong to consider pardoning the former prime minister.
Yesterday, Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki confirmed that the party had asked the Agong to consider granting Najib a pardon.
In a statement, he also said the Umno Supreme Council will also seek an audience with the Agong to present a memorandum on the matter.
Asyraf said the memorandum was handed to the top leadership by the 191 Umno divisions and was also signed by the Supreme Council as well as the women, youth and Puteri wings of all 191 divisions.
Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin then said the party’s request for the Agong to consider pardoning Najib would not harm its alliance with Pakatan Harapan and other components in the unity government.
He said the party merely wanted to show its appreciation and gratitude towards the former prime minister for the nine years in power before Barisan Nasional’s fall in the 2018 general election.
Earlier today, PKR’s Hassan Abdul Karim also said that Umno’s request to the Agong would not cause any rift in the unity government as it was the sole prerogative of the Agong to grant a pardon, as stipulated in the Federal Constitution.
The Pasir Gudang MP said it was “irrelevant” to ask if Anwar, as prime minister, faced a dilemma over the matter. He said Anwar could not be blamed if the pardon process was slow and if the pardon was granted or rejected as it was up to the Agong to decide.
Najib began serving his 12-year prison sentence on Aug 23, 2022 after he was found guilty of criminal breach of trust, power abuse and money laundering involving RM42 million of funds belonging to SRC International.
Earlier this week, Najib said he would seek to use the dissenting judgment by Federal Court judge Abdul Rahman Sebli to support his application for a royal pardon.
On March 31, Rahman released a 78-page minority judgment, which stated that Najib had no legal representation when a Federal Court panel heard and dismissed his appeal in the SRC case.
Rahman, who is the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, was a member of a five-panel Federal Court bench which heard Najib’s application for a review of the court’s decision to dismiss his appeal in the SRC case. The other four judges found no grounds to free Najib.
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