YOURSAY | ’There are many others more deserving than Najib.’

Vijay47: The obvious question is - on what grounds is former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s pardon being sought?

Let’s first consider the personality concerned.

On the credit side, Najib has never reflected any racial or religious fanaticism and, by that measure, has been a more balanced leader than we can say of current ones.

Of course, years ago, he had indulged in some silat display complete with keris which could be chalked up to the exuberance of an immature youth playing to the baying gallery.

On the debit side, Najib stole only a little bit of money. Okay, maybe more than a little bit.

Alright, alright, a humongous amount! It is for this crime of theft or misappropriation or defalcation or whatever that he has been sentenced to and is serving a prison sentence.

It is here that a pardon is being applied. Again, on what grounds?

What has the convict done or contributed to the nation that makes him deserving of his trespasses being forgiven?

The justification we hear the loudest is “miscarriage of justice”. How in heaven’s name can any man sane or not come to this rationalisation?

At every stage of his multi-level trials and from which he was granted every liberty of appeal, he was found guilty.

So how could anyone speak of “miscarriage”? The particularly deranged amongst his supporters say that there was a dissenting voice at the Federal Court. Certainly, there was.

But the count was one out of five! Again, how could anyone, however deranged, dare argue that one supersedes four?

Many would argue that Najib “Armani” Razak was accorded too soft a kid’s glove every day of the hearings.

In gleeful triviality, we hold that he should have been dressed in the traditional purple or orange.

Then we also have the countless inane reasons for which delays and postponements were requested and, in the main, granted. Fortunately, these did not include “for the family to enjoy a month-long vacation in London”!

Ignoring the merits or otherwise, perhaps the most disturbing feature in this sad story is that there appears to be unholy haste to have the pardon application heard before the idea of “the end of the month”.

Why? Because Jan 31 heralds the changing of the Royal Guard?

This would be a most offensive slur on Their Majesties because it implies that they would exercise their regal imperatives differently, one more charitable than the other.

To end on a brief note, the application suggests that if you are influential enough and abetted by a gang of accomplices numerous enough, the law and national standing can take a back seat or also be thrown under the bus.

Cogito Ergo Sum: If Attorney-General Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh agrees that Najib had an unfair trial, it’s a massive slap on the face for the judiciary, including Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and eight other senior judges.

It means we have a defective judicial system being manned by incompetent judges. If the AG tenders this reasoning, it could be tantamount to contempt.

The nation is at a crossroads and if it takes a wrong turn, there is no turning back. Malaysia will be an unsalvageable train wreck.

The law then, in the words of Charles Dickens, is an ass.

OceanMasterII: I watched the documentary “Man on the Run” on Netflix and was wondering how desperate Najib could be to have taken the bait and agreed to sit for the interview. Desperate beyond description, to say the least.

In that interview, Najib agreed that he was reckless and knew nothing about what was going on around him, whilst he was the prime minister then.

He believed that everyone around him was not doing their job and were backstabbers. By saying so, he was, at that moment, backstabbing everyone who served him and throwing them under the bus.

Sarawak Report’s Clare Rewcastle-Brown says it (not verbatim) well in that documentary: he is a shameless being.

For all the grotesque things he has committed, jail is a luxury; most countries would have bestowed capital punishment. Pardoning him is definitely out of the question.

Apa Pun Boleh: On whether Najib deserves a pardon, the answer is an emphatic “no”. There are many others more deserving than Najib.

Najib has shamed the country internationally as a worst-case kleptocracy, he has left a multi-billion ringgit debt burden on our taxpayers, he has been given a fair trial and convicted unanimously by nine judges, and he has more serious pending 1MDB-related charges in court.

Pardoning him is a slur on the judiciary as well as the people's verdict at the 14th general election.

Malaysia will be seen as a lawless country and this will derail investors' confidence.

The claim by his inner circle that his pardon will bring back Umno supporters and strengthen Umno is a long shot as it also has the potential to backfire, deterring voter confidence and destabilising the present government.

Just an Ordinary Guy: It’s convoluted logic that Najib would help gain Malay support.

They had been disillusioned by the Johor by-election when BN fared very well in what was then a weak Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional in a state where BN had also done well in the recent state election, without Najib.

So much so that they have forgotten how Najib and 1MDB brought down the once mighty BN in 2018 when they were overwhelmingly rejected by the majority, including the Malays.

So they hang on to this notion either due to naïvety or desperation, hoping and thinking that Najib would be the answer to an Umno revival.

I’m afraid reality will be the opposite and push not only right-thinking Malays but even many non-Malays to vote for the opposition.

It could very well be the death of Umno and with it, Pakatan Harapan will be brought down together. I hope wiser heads prevail, but I’m not holding my breath.

Fair Play: My take? It is very unlikely that Najib will be pardoned in the immediate and near future.

A convicted person must serve their time or a major portion of it before other considerations can be taken into account.

What we see here is political hype by vested-interest politicians.

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