NAJIB Razak’s incarceration will not spell doom for Umno nor will it benefit political parties that are dependent on Malay votes, said an analyst.

They speculated that the ripple effect from Najib’s jailing would be minimal on the Malays.

Veteran analyst Tang Ah Chai felt Najib’s jailing would have a slight impact on Umno depending on how the opposition exploited the issue, including using the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal to bury Zahid and some past and present Umno leaders.

He said the taint of corruption could be too much for some voters and they could vote for rival Malay parties.

Tang said PKR had gained some support from the work of its deputy president Rafizi Ramli in milking the corruption cases for all they were worth, like the LCS procurement issue linked to Umno leaders.

As for Bersatu, a splinter group led by Muhyiddin Yassin and made up largely of former Umno members, support from disillusioned Umno members had yet to be seen, he said.

Tang said the same could be said of former prime minister and former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s party Pejuang and his recently formed Gerakan Tanah Air coalition.

“It’s not clear if they will benefit from Najib’s departure. It’s too early to tell.

“Pejuang’s strength is the reputation of certain leaders. The party lacks strong grassroots support.”

On Najib getting a royal pardon, Tang said he did believe the Agong would give him one but not anytime soon.

“Najib is now on trial for embezzling 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds.

“I don’t think the Agong would pardon him now. If the Agong were to pardon him for the SRC International conviction, would the Agong pardon him again if he was convicted for embezzling from 1MDB?”

“On that score, I don’t think Najib would get a pardon anytime soon.”

If the Pekan lawmaker failed to get a pardon within a fortnight, he would lose his parliamentary seat.

Najib failed in his final appeal in the Federal Court on Tuesday (August 23) with the five-men bench, headed by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat unanimously dismissing the appeal and upholding the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision in finding Najib guilty on all seven counts of corruption and money laundering involving SRC International funds.

The High Court sentenced him to 12 years in prison and fined him RM210 million. – August 29, 2022.