Najib Razak’s ongoing political rehabilitation

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak – imprisoned for corruption and abuses of power since 2022 for his involvement in the multi-billion 1MDB scandal – has returned to the headlines. 

Over the past year, he’s been effective in reducing his criminal sentence and strengthening his martyr image that appeals to his political base. 

Najib has galvanized his supporters as his party, UMNO, made modest gains in by-elections. Despite his conviction, he remains a contender for national leadership. 

This week, a Malaysian court dropped 17 money-laundering and tax-evasion charges against Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor, known for her controversial jewelry and expensive bag purchases.

Two major developments have worked in Najib’s favor this year. 

One has been greater clemency. In February, the sentence in his SRC conviction, a subsidiary tied to the 1MDB scandal, was halved. 

The “discount” was secured through an appeal to the pardon board headed by Malaysia’s royalty.  

A son of a prime minister and with extensive political ties of his own having entered politics when he was only 23, Najib has long been part of Malaysia’s political elite, including part of the royal council in Pahang, his home state. 

In April, a possible addendum to the pardon board’s decision to allow Najib to finish his sentence at home was raised. Najib lost his bid to execute the alleged house arrest order in July, but the case remains on appeal with a decision expected in January. 

Signs look promising for Najib to be granted house arrest. 

In October, Anwar Ibrahim announced that his government was considering legislation for house arrest, perceived as making way for Najib to serve his now six-year sentence at home. To date, Najib has served 28 months.

Najib’s biggest legal gain, however, occurred in November when the court discharged six embezzlement charges in another trial linked to 1MDB. The reason was the prosecution had failed to provide documents to the defense. 

Of the four 1MDB-linked trials Najib has faced, he has been convicted in one, two have been dismissed, and another – the main case for 1MDB funds – is ongoing. 

Najib began his defense in this last trial earlier in December. Ironically, this is a second factor that strengthens Najib’s standing among his supporters.  

He is building his martyr image in the courtroom. 

Najib’s lawyers have alleged a U.S.-led conspiracy to topple him. This extends his “Robin Hood” narrative in which he had claimed that his 1MDB funds were distributed rather than used personally. 

His lawyers have consistently argued he is being targeted and while Najib apologized for mishandling the 1MDB funds in October, he has not accepted blame for the billions of losses Malaysian taxpayers now have to pay.  

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Reinforcing Najib’s martyr image is a stark contrast: Najib has had to enter his defense, while Ahmad Zahid Hamidi – the UMNO president and a key ally in the Anwar government – has had all of his legal charges dismissed. 

This month, the prosecution withdrew its appeal in Zahid’s last remaining legal case, making way for the courts to acquit the deputy prime minister of bribery charges connected to a foreign visa system. 

Within UMNO, Najib is more popular with the grassroots than Zahid. The more Najib is being made to fight, the stronger his supporters perceive injustice. 

Najib’s popularity is reinforced by nostalgia among his party for an era when they were dominant in power, patronage was more widely shared, and economic growth was perceived as benefiting the ground. Many long for a return to the old ways of doing business. 

Views of Najib are polarized, with his detractors adamant that he should serve his time in prison and pay his outstanding taxes and fines. Yet, among his base and dissatisfied voters, Najib is arguably stronger than he was a year ago.   

Those in power have a good reason to be wary of Najib’s popularity. Malaysia has a history of jailed leaders coming back to power. 

Ironically, this history may be Najib’s main obstacle, as his ongoing rehabilitation is unlikely to provide a clear pathway to power – at least in the short term.  

An independent researcher, Bridget Welsh is an honorary research associate at the Asia Research Institute of University of Nottingham Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur and a Senior Associate Fellow of The Habibie Center. The views expressed here are her own and do not reflect the position of the University of Nottingham Malaysia, The Habibie Center or BenarNews.