Defeated Malaysian leader and wife banned from leaving country
Malaysia’s Immigration Department yesterday said that scandal-hit former prime minister Najib Razak and his wife are barred from leaving the country, after he announced plans for a holiday.
A leaked flight manifesto shows Mr Najib, 64, and his wife Rosmah Mansor were due to leave on a private jet yesterday to Jakarta, fuelling rumours that he was fleeing the country to escape possible prosecution over a corruption scandal involving the 1MDB state fund.
His coalition suffered a shocking electoral defeat this week that ended its 60-year rule.
Later yesterday, Mr Najib announced that he was stepping down with immediate effect as president of the United Malays National Organisation and chairman of the National Front coalition.
He said his deputy, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, would take over as president of organisation, a party that dominates the coalition. The announcement followed strong calls from the party for him to stand down.
“We accept the people’s verdict with an open heart,” Mr Najib said. “Maybe this will be an opportunity for us to fix our weaknesses and shortcomings, although these are more a matter of perceptions than reality. God willing, UMNO will continue to live.”
In his earlier statement on social media, Mr Najib said he was committed to “facilitating a smooth transfer of power”.
The Immigration Department, which had said he was not on a travel blacklist, issued a statement that the couple “have just been blacklisted from leaving the country”.
Mr Najib responded swiftly by saying he respected the ruling and would stay with his family in the country.
The National Front, which has ruled Malaysia since independence from Britain, obtained only 79 of the 222 parliamentary seats, losing power to Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s four-party alliance amid public anger over the 1MDB scandal and rising cost of living.
It was a remarkable comeback for Dr Mahathir, who was premier for 22 years until his retirement in 2003.
He is now the world’s oldest elected leader at 92, and said his government would not go on a witchhunt over the 1MDB fiasco but that Mr Najib would have to face the court if he was found to be responsible.
The fund was started by Mr Najib when he took power in 2009 but it accumulated billions in debts and is being investigated in the US and other countries.
American investigators said his associates stole and looted US$4.5 billion (Dh16.53bn) from the fund, of which about $700 million landed in his bank account and about $30m was used to buy jewellery for his wife.
Mr Najib denies any wrongdoing. He sacked critics in his government, including an attorney general and a deputy prime minister, and muzzled the media.
Mohamed Ali, the new Attorney General, cleared him in 2016, saying the money was a donation from the Saudi royal family and that most of it was returned.
Dr Mahathir has indicated that Mr Ali would be axed for hiding evidence of wrongdoing.