Resign if Najib is pardoned, KL DAP leader tells party members in Cabinet

A lead member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Kuala Lumpur has urged party officials serving in the Cabinet to resign if former Prime Minister Najib Razak, currently incarcerated for a corruption conviction, is granted a pardon. Ben Fong, the DAP treasurer for Kuala Lumpur, warned that such an act would be untenable for the party to continue its association with the government.

The Federal Territories Pardons Board (FTPB) is reportedly scheduled to convene today to deliberate on Najib's request for a pardon concerning his convictions related to the 1MDB scandal. Najib, aged 72, was previously sentenced to a 12-year prison term for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International funds, a punishment that was later reduced to six years and a fine of RM50 million.

Recently, he was convicted of abuse of power and money laundering involving over RM2 billion linked to 1MDB and sentenced to 15 years in prison, an appeal is pending. Fong emphasized that stepping away from the Cabinet does not necessarily imply the dissolution of the government and asserted that DAP could maintain support for the administration from outside the Cabinet to uphold political stability and advocate for institutional reforms.

However, he stressed that certain lines should not be crossed. Currently, there are five DAP ministers and seven deputy ministers in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's Cabinet.