At a press conference here today, Najib said his application for the property in Bukit Petaling in Kuala Lumpur had nothing to do with tomorrow’s Melaka election.

Yesterday, finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz confirmed that Putrajaya had received an application from Najib for a property said to be located at Bukit Petaling, sparking pandemonium in the Dewan Rakyat.

The property was reportedly valued at RM100 million.

Opposition MPs, including former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, criticised the move, with Mahathir also questioning the impact of Najib’s tenure.

Pakatan Harapan even said it may review its pact with Putrajaya after the revelation, with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim stating that “gifting” Najib the assets would be immoral and illogical since Najib had been found guilty of corruption by the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Najib has said his office only asked to be given a residence after the last general election (GE14) as allowed in the amended act (Members of Parliament (Remuneration) Act).

He said that he had been asked to choose from three plots of land and never asked for a RM100 million gift from the government as implied by some news reports.

Najib said he did not know about the price of the property as he chose it based on its suitability for his residence.

“I came to know about the value of the property after it was widely publicised. I was not involved in the valuation,” he said.

He also added that he decided to withdraw his application as the matter had created an uncomfortable atmosphere.

He proposed that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob look into this matter and, if necessary, withdraw the allocations given to the prime ministers who succeeded him.

However, he said the government need not withdraw the allocations for former prime ministers who had already received them.

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