Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim welcomed an apology from imprisoned former premier Najib Razak, who is seeking leniency for his crimes related to the multibillion dollar 1MDB scandal.
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Anwar said while his stance on 1MDB is well known, it was not fair to single out one person for the goings-on in the sovereign wealth fund. His comments come ahead of a High Court decision this week on whether to acquit Najib in another case involving 1MDB.
“Najib made a statement, ‘I apologise for what happened with 1MDB’ and so on,” Anwar said in a speech on Sunday. “I’m the prime minister, the father of the nation. When someone says that, what can I do? I said we received it well.”
The 71-year-old Najib apologised last week for mishandling the scandal that saw some US$4.5 billion stolen from the state coffers during his time in office. The former premier has also been seeking to serve the rest of his jail sentence at home after it was halved to six years in January by a royal pardon, though a Malaysian court has dismissed his petition.
Anwar rose to power in 2022 on a promise to crack down on graft, but took a hit to his credibility after forming a coalition with the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the party that Najib once led. Umno has vowed to defend Najib – and the party’s continued support is crucial for Anwar to stay in office.
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