PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said there would be no conflict of interest with his involvement in the pardon process for disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak.

Anwar said the decision to grant a pardon was at the sole discretion of the king.

However, he said he had not seen any paperwork, other than Umno’s statement yesterday, so did not see any merit in debating his supposed involvement in the process.

“No need to debate in public because there is no question of conflict of interest. I have not seen the process or papers.

“It’s premature for me to comment as I’ve not seen anything, except for Umno’s resolution, and the party has the right to appeal.

“We will abide by due process and I will be a part of that process.

“I don’t want to preclude anyone for that matter,” he told reporters in Selangor today.

Yesterday Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the party is seeking an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Sha to plead for a royal pardon on behalf of Najib.

Asyraf said the Umno Supreme Council will present a memorandum to this effect.

In a statement, Asyraf said the move had been endorsed by 191 Umno divisions.

“The Supreme Council takes note of the grief and concern among Umno grassroots over the (Federal Court’s) decision,” he said in the statement posted on his Facebook page.

Article 42(1) of the Federal Constitution gives the king the power to grant a pardon or reprieve to a convict.

Najib began serving a 12-year prison sentence on August 23, 2022, after he was found guilty of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering for embezzling RM42 million in SRC International funds.

On March 31, a five-member Federal Court panel, by a 4-1 majority, dismissed Najib’s attempt to push for a review the court’s decision to uphold his conviction.

Earlier this week, Najib said he would seek to use the dissenting judgment by Federal Court judge Abdul Rahman Sebli to support his application for a royal pardon.

In his dissenting judgment, Rahman said Najib was denied legal representation during his final appeal. – April 8, 2023.