KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has not ruled out seeking re-election to parliament within the next two years, he told Reuters in an interview, undeterred by a corruption conviction that would block him from running.
Najib’s graft-tainted party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), clinched the premiership last month after it was ousted from power three years ago over a multibillion-dollar scandal. Opponents had expressed fears that party leaders facing charges could secure leniency once back in control.
Najib, who served as premier for nine years until 2018, was found guilty of corruption last year and sentenced to 12 years in jail over one of many cases over the misappropriation of funds from now-defunct state fund 1MDB. He has denied wrongdoing and has appealed the verdict.
He is still a member of parliament but the constitution bars him from contesting elections unless he gets a pardon or a reprieve from the country’s monarch.
But speaking to Reuters on Saturday, Najib challenged his disqualification saying: “It is subject to interpretation.”
“It depends on interpretation in terms of the law, the constitution and whatever happens in court proceedings,” Najib said.
Asked if he would contest the next elections due by 2023, he said: “Any politician who would want to play a role would want a seat in parliament.”
Former Malaysia PM Najib Razak may seek re-election to parliament despite conviction
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Former Malaysia PM Najib Razak may seek re-election to parliament despite conviction
- Najib Razak, who served as premier for nine years until 2018, was found guilty of corruption last year
Proposed EU mission to blocked pipeline awaiting Ukraine approval
- European Union member Hungary has in turn blocked a vital $106-billion EU loan to Ukraine
- “We have proposed a mission to inspect the pipeline to Ukraine,” said Itkonen
BRUSSELS: The EU said Thursday it had proposed a mission to inspect a blocked oil pipeline at the center of a row between Ukraine and Hungary — and was waiting for Kyiv to respond.
Hungary and Slovakia accuse Kyiv of deliberately delaying reopening the Druzhba pipeline, which pumps Russian oil to the two landlocked states and Ukraine says was damaged by Russian strikes in January.
European Union member Hungary has in turn blocked a vital 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) EU loan to Ukraine as well as a fresh round of sanctions on Russia.
“We have proposed a mission to inspect the pipeline to Ukraine,” Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, a spokeswoman for the European Commission told journalists in Brussels. “We are awaiting their response.”
The suggestion of an EU fact-finding mission came on the back of two weeks of “intense discussions and contact with Ukraine on this issue,” she added.
On Wednesday, Budapest said it had sent its own mission to assess the pipeline and hold talks with Ukrainian authorities — only for Kyiv to deny there were any discussions planned.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week it could take four to six weeks to make the pipeline operational again.
The dispute comes as Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has ramped up political attacks on Ukraine ahead of a closely fought parliamentary election in Hungary on April 12.
Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in the EU, has also urged the 27-nation bloc to suspend sanctions on Russian oil and gas to counter rising prices since the Middle East war erupted.
