Addendum order must be decided by Pardons Board, says Anwar

SHAH ALAM - Any decision regarding the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong's addendum order related to the house arrest of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak must be decided in a Pardons Board meeting.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he did not want to interfere in the matter, despite facing criticism from various quarters accusing him of inaction.

"I said this involved the Pardons Board and the authority vested in the Agong. This explanation is what I find most fitting, based on discussions with the Attorney-General and the insights shared by both the Sultan and the Agong.

"We are not attempting to undermine any decisions made by the judge. However, our approach may not be favoured by certain factions within the allied party, or vice versa by other circles outside of it.

"We do not question that. The decision must be made at the Pardons Board meeting and the final decision by the Agong must also be made at the meeting," he said in his speech at the PKR 25th convention at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC), here, today.

The PKR president said that since independence until now, the government has never made any decision that could offend the Agong or the Malay Rulers.

"Don't demolish the existing government just because they want to continue an agenda like that. There must be wisdom in dealing with this problem.

"I have to admit, although there are things that must be negotiated outside the Cabinet, so far, there has not been a single rift between Pakatan Harapan (PH), Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) as well as Sabah and Sarawak," he said.

On April 1, Najib, 70, filed an application at the Kuala Lumpur High Court to obtain leave to initiate a judicial review to challenge the existence of the addendum order of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Deputy Prime Minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed in an affidavit in support of Najib’s legal challenge, the existence of an addendum order purportedly issued with the consent of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong allowing Najib to go under house arrest to serve the remaining sentence.

The addendum order would allow the former prime minister to serve his remaining six years of prison term at home.

The court has set June 5 to decide on the application.