KUALA LUMPUR – The Umno Supreme Council is set to convene for an emergency meeting this morning to discuss the recently announced reduced sentence for convicted ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
In a statement issued at 10.30pm yesterday, party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also deputy prime minister, said that the meeting would take place at 11am today.
“A special meeting of the Umno Supreme Council will be held at 11am (on February 3) to discuss the latest developments in the nation’s politics, particularly the Pardons Board’s announcement on (Najib’s) reduced sentence,” Zahid said in the statement.
He also said that the Bumiputera Economic Congress Colloquium, which was initially scheduled to be held at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur today, has been postponed.
The colloquium, Zahid said, was set to be chaired by Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani and attended by 2,000 party leaders from 191 divisions nationwide.
On January 27, Umno secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki announced the colloquium, which was meant to collect feedback from Umno grassroots leaders to be presented during the Bumiputera Economic Congress from February 29 to March 2.
Yesterday, Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan took to his X account to share an invite for other top leaders from the Barisan Nasional linchpin to attend the ad hoc meeting today.
According to the invite, the meeting will take place at Menara Dato’ Onn, which is also Umno’s headquarters.
Yesterday afternoon, the Pardons Board secretariat for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya announced that Najib, a former Umno president, was granted a reduced jail sentence and fine.
Najib’s jail sentence was shortened from 12 years to six years, while his fine was slashed from RM210 million to RM50 million. However, if Najib fails to pay the RM50 million fine, he would have to serve an additional year in prison in default.
Najib began serving his prison sentence on August 23, 2022 after losing his final appeal at the Federal Court. He submitted his application for a royal pardon in September the same year.
He was convicted by the high court in July 2020 of corruption involving RM42 million of funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd. – February 3, 2024