'Nanti, nanti, nanti': Zaliha sidesteps addendum question

Summary

• The federal territories minister avoids confirming if the Pardons Board will disclose its meeting minutes on Najib Abdul Razak’s clemency bid.

• This comes as an aide to the prime minister suggested transparency to counter speculation about the royal addendum.

• The government faces criticism for allegedly hiding the addendum on Najib’s house arrest, with PAS calling for the prime minister’s resignation.

Federal Territories Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa sidestepped a question on whether the Pardons Board would reveal its meeting minutes on Najib Abdul Razak’s appeal for clemency.

“Nanti, nanti, nanti (wait, wait, wait),” she said when she was asked the question by the media after an event at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre this morning.

Zaliha, who sits on the Pardons Board because of her position as federal territories minister, was asked about the suggestion made by an aide to the prime minister.

Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, who is the principal political secretary to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, reportedly made the suggestion yesterday.

He said revealing the board’s deliberation on Najib’s case can end speculations surrounding the addendum order by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah in January last year.

READ MORE: ‘No, no, no’: Ex-AG mum on royal addendum, evades media

Shamsul’s call came amid heavy criticism against the federal government, which has been accused of hiding the order for the former prime minister to serve the remainder of his jail sentence under house arrest.

Opposition party PAS also used the issue to call for Anwar’s resignation for allegedly disobeying the former Agong’s order.

Royal addendum on house arrest

The Pardons Board decided to reduce Najib’s 12-year jail sentence to six years and RM210 million fine to RM50 million in a meeting on Jan 29, 2024.

On April 1, Najib made a court filing to compel the government to confirm there was a royal addendum to the Pardons Board decision allowing him to serve the rest of his jail sentence under house arrest.

On April 9, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi backed Najib’s claim, filing an affidavit in court that he was told of the addendum by International Trade and Investment Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail also filed an affidavit, saying he was also told about the royal supplementary order on Najib’s house arrest.

On July 3, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Najib’s legal action over the existence of the addendum, with the judge ruling that the affidavits amounted to mere hearsay.

In his speech on the national budget last October, Anwar indicated plans to draft a new law to allow house arrest as an alternative punishment for selected offences.

On Dec 5, Najib’s son Nizar filed an affidavit claiming the Pahang sultan told him about the existence of the royal addendum.

On Jan 6, 2025, the Pahang palace confirmed that the then-Agong, Pahang ruler Sultan Abdullah, had indeed ordered Najib to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest.

On the same day, the Court of Appeal in a 2-1 decision allowed Najib’s house arrest appeal. It ordered the High Court to hear the merits of Najib’s judicial review.

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