Malaysia’s Anwar risks political peril as Najib’s house arrest saga drags on

The new year has brought old troubles for Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim, as public anger and accusations of treason by the opposition are aimed at the government over the potential for the release of disgraced former leader Najib Razak into house arrest.

Najib, jailed in 2022 for corruption linked to a former unit of scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB, was on Monday granted a bid to seek a court order to force the government to confirm the existence of – and implement – a supplementary decree allowing him to serve the remainder of his six-year sentence under house arrest.

The Court of Appeal ruled that there was no reason to stop Najib’s attempt given fresh evidence from the Pahang royal palace affirming the existence of the supplementary decree, and the fact that the government had not denied it was issued by the former king.

But the opposition was quick to seize on the court’s findings, accusing Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition of treachery for allegedly attempting to hide the fact that the purported decree existed.

“The government’s actions in dismissing and hiding from public knowledge the existence of the royal addendum is an act of treason towards the Malay Royal Institution,” said Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz, information chief of opposition Malay nationalist party Bersatu.

“The Court of Appeal’s decision … showed that PM10, his ministers and the attorney general cannot be trusted and are of questionable integrity,” Tun Faisal said in a statement, referring to Anwar.