KUALA LUMPUR — Critics of the conditional pardon granted to Datuk Seri Najib Razak should not shift the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s constitutional discretion onto the Prime Minister simply to make him the target of political criticism, said Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
Zafrul, who is senior political adviser to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said the facts surrounding Najib’s pardon must first be corrected, stressing that the Prime Minister did not have the power to decide whether a convicted person should be pardoned.
In a video posted on his social media platforms, Zafrul said Article 42 of the Federal Constitution places the power of pardon with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong through the Pardons Board process.
“Some have said that the Prime Minister has freed Datuk Seri Najib Razak. So now the Prime Minister has to explain why Datuk Seri Najib was freed. We need to correct the facts first,” Zafrul said.
Zafrul questioned whether those criticising the decision were effectively challenging the constitutional power of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to grant pardons.
“Are you questioning the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s power of pardon?” he said.
He said people were free to have differing views on the decision, but political disagreement should not result in the constitutional position being distorted.
“We can have different opinions, we can have different views on this decision,” he said.
“But we must not go so far as to twist the facts of the Constitution simply because of politics,” he added.
“Do not, simply because you want to blame the Prime Minister, transfer the discretion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to the Prime Minister,” he said.
Zafrul also stressed that Najib had not been granted a full release, but a conditional pardon that allowed him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, subject to paying a RM50 million fine and other conditions imposed.
“Another thing must be made clear: Datuk Seri Najib was not granted a full release,” he said.
“He was granted a conditional pardon to serve his sentence in the SRC case under house arrest until August 23, 2028, subject to the conditions imposed,” he added.
Najib was granted a conditional pardon yesterday by the Federal Territories Pardons Board, chaired by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until April 2028, subject to payment of a RM50 million fine.
He has so far served four years at Kajang Prison after being convicted of corruption involving RM42 million belonging to SRC International.
In January 2024, the same Pardons Board reduced his original 12-year prison sentence by half and cut the RM210 million fine imposed by the court to RM50 million.
His party, Umno, is currently conducting a fundraising drive to raise the RM50 million required for him to pay the fine. – September 19, 2026