The government has been urged by Nizar Najib, son of former prime minister Najib Razak, to accord the same respect and urgency to a royal order on his father’s house arrest request as it did to the call that led to the formation of the unity government.
“This issue (of the addendum) has been going on forever. How much longer are we going to drag this out when the decree already exists?” he said at a press conference here today.
Nizar, who is Najib’s eldest son, said failure to carry out the order could damage public trust and respect for royal directives.
“It’s the same as when we honoured the royal decree to form the unity government. No one questioned it and, in fact, everyone supported it. So what’s the difference between the decree to form the unity government and the one to implement the addendum?” he said.
Last week, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government will follow-up on the royal order as soon as possible following legal procedures “but it depends heavily on the powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, which we must all respect”.
The addendum was made to a Pardons Board decision to reduce Najib’s sentence of a jail term and fine, and purportedly orders Najib’s jail sentence to be served under house arrest. Najib had been convicted of corruption and abuse of power in the SRC International case.
The Federal Court was told on July 9 that Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar had on July 2 acknowledged the existence of the addendum but was disputing whether it was genuine or valid.
At the press conference, Rosmadi Ismail, chairman of the NKB1Msia Club, called on the prime minister to take full responsibility in ensuring the addendum is implemented. He said Najib deserved fair and just treatment under the law as a statesman who had contributed significantly to national development.
