Najib's pardon: A test for PH-BN relationship

With the ongoing appeal to grant a royal pardon, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has once again stolen the public's attention.

Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) had appealed to Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, that the pardon appeal for Najib should be rejected.

Amanah Communications Director Khalid Abdul Samad said that Najib's pardon will project a bad image to the people regarding the national justice system and also to the whole world regarding the value of integrity.

He explained that the matter would indirectly destroy the idea of a Malaysia Madani brought by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

However, this matter has caused Umno President Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to express dissatisfaction when he stated that any political party of the same mind should not do so.

He explained that the power of pardon is the Agong's absolute right and should not be talked about excessively.

Therefore, no party should make inappropriate comments or express views regarding the matter, he added.

After the 15th General Election (GE15), Umno and its coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN) have agreed to form a coalition with Pakatan Harapan (PH) after no majority was achieved during the fight.

This issue raises the question of how far this cooperation is able to survive, considering that the ideologies and thoughts brought by the two parties are largely not parallel.

But issues were kept quiet to allow a bigger crisis in the country to be resolved. However, with Amanah's statement, which touches on the issue of Najib's pardon, it is certainly seen as sparking a small fire of tension that has been extinguished for a while now.

The question now is whether the issue of granting royal pardon to a former Pekan member of parliament is able to break the friendly bond forged between the two coalitions.

If not, is it capable of becoming a strong force that can kill the strength of the Unity government in the next state election? All these questions will be answered over time.