ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – Hundreds of United Malays National Organisation (Umno) delegates were in tears at the closing ceremony of the party’s annual meeting on Saturday, as party president Zahid Hamidi recited a poem for former premier Najib Razak, who is serving a prison sentence for his part in a financial crime linked to a state fund.
The tears, and repeated calls for more efforts to free Najib from jail, at the four-day assembly, reflected his deep influence on the party despite leading the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) alliance to its first-ever defeat in a general election in 2018.
BN was again defeated at the 2022 national polls, a sign of lingering voter disgust amid the perceptions of deep-rooted corruption in Umno.
While BN is a member of Malaysia’s governing alliance today, its 30 seats in Parliament are only a small part of the total 145 seats controlled by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is not from the party.
“My friend, nothing hurts us more, as we recall at this moment, how you are languishing behind bars, accompanied by silence and cold walls, as we worry about you, and miss you, who were always with us,” said Zahid, sobbing as he recited the poem titled Buat Seorang Sahabat (For A Friend), behind him a backdrop of photographs of Najib in jail.
“My friend, as proof of our friendship, I tie myself with an oath and promise, to work towards your freedom and ensure that you will return to us.”
Najib was taken to Kajang Prison on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in August 2022 when his final appeal to Malaysia’s apex court was rejected. He is serving a six-year sentence – reduced from 12 – for illegally receiving funds misappropriated from a unit of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Some MYR42 million was found in his personal bank account. He faces several other 1MDB-linked cases in court.
The United States Department of Justice reported that from 2009 to 2015, more than USD4.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB were misappropriated by high-level Malaysian officials and their associates.
Earlier on Saturday, Zahid’s daughter Nurulhidayah Zahid had also called on the delegates not to give up on Najib, saying that he had brought success to the nation through various programmes, and that his work had benefited Umno and Malaysians. At least one of Najib’s five children, his daughter Nooryana Najwa Najib, was also in the meeting hall.
