Najib guns for judge who convicted him

Graft probe into judge who convicted former Malaysian premier called intimidation campaign against judiciary

Malaysia’s highest court will soon reach its final and incontestable conclusion on whether to uphold former prime minister Najib Razak’s landmark corruption conviction, a ruling that will leave the influential ex-leader either firmly emboldened as he mounts a political comeback or forced to adjust to life in a jail cell.

Lawyers for the 68-year-old politician recently filed a last-ditch bid to nullify his conviction and 12-year prison sentence handed down in July 2020 over the misappropriation of 42 million ringgit (US$9.5 million) from SRC International, a now-defunct investment vehicle of the infamous 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund.

Najib’s legal team contends that the judge who handed down the historic ruling, Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, should be disqualified for a purported conflict of interest due to his previous stint as the general counsel of Maybank Group, a commercial lender to 1MDB that had played an advisory role in the establishment of SRC International.

A probe into the same sitting judge by the government’s anti-graft agency in response to unsubstantiated claims leveled by a fugitive blogger that Nazlan had pocketed stolen 1MDB funds has, meanwhile, shaken Malaysia’s legal fraternity and prompted the country’s chief justice to push back against “scurrilous attacks” leveled against the judiciary.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Inflation politics a game of chicken in Malaysia

PM Ismail defying UMNO elder calls for snap polls due to the impact of runaway poultry and other food prices on voters

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has few vote-winning achievements to claim after less than a year in office, which suggests he has little to gain and plenty to lose by calling an early election of which graft-tainted party leaders of his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) are aggressively lobbying.

Pointing to thumping wins in recent state elections and an opposition coalition in disarray, UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says the electoral time is right for the party to reclaim its traditional political dominance. But Ismail has countered that fast-rising food inflation and basic living costs mean snap polls should be delayed until prices stabilize.

Malaysia’s next general election must be called by the third quarter of 2023, but UMNO-led governments have in the past held early elections to capitalize on political popularity or favorable economic conditions. UMNO suffered a historic defeat in 2018 but returned to power through parliamentary maneuvers and is now eyeing a redemptive victory.

Ismail, however, is adamant that the next election should not be held until the country can curb inflation, telling Nikkei Asia in a recent interview that his government would “have to wait for the right time” to dissolve parliament and call new polls. “We are now facing a period of increasing inflation with high prices… do you think this is the right time?”

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.