Johor, March 3 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin today said that the crowds at programs featuring Najib Razak, who has been found guilty of corruption, is not necessarily a positive thing and does not mean the people have accepted him.
Speaking to reporters after an anti-corruption oath-taking event, he said the audiences could quite likely have come in order to see for themselves the face of Najib, who was convicted of graft by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 2020 – a ruling upheld by the Court of Appeal last year.
“They want to see, is this really the person who was declared a thief? Is this really the person who has been convicted and sentenced?”
“So we should not assume that those who come, come because they are fans,” he said.
“Many who come wish to see his face for themselves – is this the man who was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million?”
Muhyiddin said it was also possible that many came to see the individual who was still going back and forth from the court for his ongoing corruption trials.
“This person has already been found guilty in a US court of abuse of power and stealing the people’s money,” he added.
He said people could attend political programs throughout the campaign period for the Johor state election, regardless of whether these events involved individuals they liked or not.
His remarks come four days after Najib visited a number of locations in Johor together with candidates from Barisan Nasional, including from MCA, speaking with voters from the Chinese community.
All 56 PN candidates contesting in the Johor state elections took the oath. Muhyiddin said it was meant to show PN’s commitment to fight corruption and to form a government with high integrity and good governance.
He hoped the practice would increase the voters’ confidence to vote for PN.
“PN is the only party that does this, started during the Melaka state elections, and we will make it a practice,” he said.
Najib, the Pekan MP, was found guilty in July 2020 of seven counts of criminal breach of trust, money laundering, and abuse of power involving RM42 million in funds from 1MDB-linked unit SRC International.
On Dec 7 last year, the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction and sentence. Najib is currently appealing his case at the Federal Court.
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