He said the party would still demand accountability for the scandal that has been described as the world’s largest kleptocracy case to date.
Bersatu, co-founded by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, himself a vocal critic of 1MDB, will also continue to push for a “just and fair” trial for those implicated in the scandal..
Wan Fayhsal said PN leaders had attended the rally at the Palace of Justice as the purported royal decree allowing the former prime minister to serve the remainder of his jail term under house arrest was a matter of public interest.
“It (the matter) had been debated in Parliament after all. Add this to the fact that the government has been coy for almost a year about its existence.
“Our attendance was driven by a broader concern for public interest and the rule of law,” the Machang MP told FMT.
Wan Fayhsal said the gathering by opposition leaders had nothing to do with Najib as an Umno politician, but his ordeal and about taking the government to task over its “dishonesty” in managing the affair.
He said PN’s stand on the matter revolved around the principles of justice and upholding the royal institution.
“One has the right to be pardoned, like what Anwar was granted previously, in accordance with the law of this country,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s royal pardon in 2018.
“That’s what PN stands for. We are here to protect the royal institution.”
PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, Bersatu deputy president Hamzah Zainudin and PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar were among the PN politicians who gathered to support Najib’s bid to pursue his claim over a royal addendum allowing him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
He is currently serving his six-year jail sentence in his SRC International case at Kajang prison.
Najib won his appeal yesterday and will have his judicial review heard before a new High Court judge, after Justice Amarjeet Singh previously ruled that he had failed to show he had an arguable case to warrant a full hearing of his proposed judicial review application.
Najib has also been allowed to adduce new evidence when the merits of the case are heard in the High Court.