'Najib's pardon is important for Umno grassroots' - Shahrir

SHAH ALAM - Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's royal pardon is an important matter for Umno grassroots said the party's election committee chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Samad.

Hence, he questioned the statement issued by former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming who said his party is open to compromise on anything but draws the line at expediting a pardon for Najib "Who is the DAP spokesperson? Ong only saw Najib's royal pardon issue as a red line, but so many of those lines were crossed by the DAP's leadership for 22 months.

"For that reason, Pakatan Harapan (PH) could not obtain enough seats to form a government after the 15th General Election (GE15) so they had to gain support from Umno and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

"Joining hands with Umno to form a government is not crossing the red line for DAP?" he asked in a Facebook post today.

On Tuesday, Ong said if there is one thing the DAP will not compromise on as a component of the ruling alliance coalition, it is being party to a pardon bid for convicted Najib, who is alleged to be responsible for the 1MDB global financial scandal.

Ong added that other issues, such as political appointments to head agencies, were easier to swallow as DAP leaders had also been appointed to such positions, citing the appointment of former Klang MP Charles Santiago as the chairman of the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) in March.

It was also previously reported that Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) communications director Khalid Abdul Samad had reportedly appealed to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to reject Najib's pardon application.

He later said Umno should show some respect for Amanah’s stand on the matter.

However, Amanah deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub issued an apology over the statement.