Najib Razak

Najib Razak
6th Prime Minister of Malaysia
In office 3 April 2009 – 10 May 2018
Preceded by	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Succeeded by	Mahathir Mohamad
Personal details
Born	(1953-07-23) 23 July 1953 (age 71) Kuala Lipis, Pahang, Malaya (now Kuala Lipis, Pahang, Malaysia)
Political party	United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
Spouse(s)	Puteri Zainah Eskandar (1976–1987) Rosmah Mansor (1987–present)

Najib Razak (born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician. He became the Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2009 to 2018. He lost his re-election bid in the 2018 general election. One of the most controversial leaders of the 21st century, his rule was known for corruption,^[1][2][3] a lavish lifestyle,^[4][5][6][7] and restricting free speech.^[8]

Najib became Deputy Prime Minister in 2004 and took over from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi a year after Barisan Nasional lost badly in the 2008 election. He was accused of being involved in the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006,^[9] but he denied it.^[10]

Since he started leading the government in 2009, many problems have happened in the country’s politics, society, and economy.^[11] After the 2013 election, his government charged some critics with sedition,^[12] jailed Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy,^[13] and introduced a Goods and Services Tax (GST).^[14] In 2015, Najib was involved in a major corruption scandal with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). This caused protests by Bersih calling for his resignation.^[15][16][17] The protests led to a declaration by Mahathir Mohamad, Pakatan Harapan, and NGOs to remove Najib.^[18]

To handle the corruption accusations, Najib tightened his control by replacing Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, suspending two newspapers, and passing a law that gave him more power.^[19][20] His cuts to subsidies caused living costs to rise,^[21] and the 1MDB scandal and changing oil prices led to a drop in the Malaysian currency.^[22][23] This helped BN lose the 2018 elections. Najib accepted defeat and promised to help with the power transfer.^[24] FinanceAsia named Najib the worst finance minister in 2016.^[25] TIME magazine listed Najib as one of the world leaders less popular than U.S. President Donald Trump.^[26]

On 28 July 2020, the High Court convicted Najib on all seven counts of abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust, becoming the first Prime Minister of Malaysia to be convicted of corruption.^[27][28] At the same time, Najib was ordered to pay RM1.69 billion in tax arrears to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).^[29] On 8 December 2021, the Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court and denied Najib's appeal to overturn his conviction and jail sentence in the SRC case.^[30] On 23 August 2022, the Federal Court confirmed the sentence.^[31] Najib is now serving his time in Kajang Prison.^[32]

On 2 February 2024, Malaysia's pardons board cut Najib's sentence to six years and reduced his fines to 50 million ringgit ($10.59 million).^[33] On 3 April, Najib asked the court to change his jail term to house arrest,^[34] but the request was denied on 3 July.^[35]

1. ↑ "Malaysia anti-graft agency meets PM Najib's office over 1MDB scandal". Reuters. 2015-12-03.
2. ↑ "1MDB: The case that has riveted Malaysia". BBC News. 2016-07-22.
3. ↑ "Malaysia top court upholds ex-Prime Minister Najib's graft conviction". NPR. The Associated Press. 2022-08-23.
4. ↑ "Rosmah's 'shopping spree' hits Aussie paper". Malaysiakini. 2012-01-21.
5. ↑ "Malaysian PM Najib's wife linked to S$41.5m worth of jewellery bought with 1MDB funds: US Justice Department". www.straitstimes.com. 2017-06-16.
6. ↑ "Malaysia police seize hundreds of designer handbags from Najib Razak's flat". the Guardian. 2018-05-18.
7. ↑ Paddock, Richard C. (2018-05-18). "Malaysia Seizes Najib's Trove of 350 Containers of Cash, Handbags and Jewelry". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
8. ↑ "Malaysia: Crackdown on free speech creates 'culture of fear'". CNN. 2016-10-13.
9. ↑ HABIB, SHAHANAAZ (2008-07-03). "Altantuya: Razak's PI makes shocking statutory declaration (Update)". The Star.
10. ↑ Tee, By Kenneth (2019-01-23). "Najib: Lies. I never met Altantuya". Malay Mail.
11. ↑ "Tun Mahathir Lawan Najib: Sudut Pandang Anak Sarawak". Projek Dialog (in Malay). 2015-06-17.
12. ↑ Surendran, N. (2019-01-12). "Najib's gov't was the worst abuser of Sedition Act in history". Malaysiakini.
13. ↑ Murdoch, Lindsay (2014-03-08). "Anwar Ibrahim says sodomy conviction 'orchestrated' by Najib government". The Sydney Morning Herald.
14. ↑ Azhar, Alyaa (2016-04-02). "2,000 brave scorching heat to protest GST". Malaysiakini.
15. ↑ "Protesters Call on Malaysian Prime Minister to Resign". The Wall Street Journal. 2015-08-01.
16. ↑ Chief, Shannon TeohMalaysia Bureau (2016-01-19). "Arrests at rally calling for Najib's resignation". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923.
17. ↑ Chief, Shannon TeohMalaysia Bureau (2016-01-22). "Bersih plans overnight rally in August to demand Najib's resignation". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923.
18. ↑ Correspondent, Trinna LeongMalaysia (2016-03-04). "Malaysia's Mahathir and opposition sign declaration to oust Najib". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
19. ↑ "Malaysia's Najib looks to ride out political crisis". Reuters. 2015-08-11.
20. ↑ "New bill gives Najib extensive powers". The Business Times. 2015-12-04.
21. ↑ "Malaysians Seen Curbing Spending as Living Costs Surge: Economy". Bloomberg.com. 2014-01-07.
22. ↑ "Ringgit, oil prices drop ahead of Najib's economic address". www.malaymail.com. 2015-01-20.
23. ↑ "Ringgit Posts Third Monthly Loss as 1MDB Scandal Hurts Sentiment". Bloomberg.com. 2015-07-31.
24. ↑ YUSOF, NOR AFZAN MOHAMAD (2018-05-11). "Najib congratulates Dr Mahathir over PM appointment". NST Online.
25. ↑ Middleton, Rachel (2016-02-03). "Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak named Asia's worst finance minister 2016". International Business Times UK.
26. ↑ "TIME names Najib among world leaders 'less popular' than Trump". Malaysiakini. 2017-05-23.
27. ↑ Lee, Yen Nee (2020-07-28). "Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak sentenced to 12 years in jail, fined $50 million over 1MDB scandal". CNBC.
28. ↑ "Najib Razak: Malaysian ex-PM gets 12-year jail term in 1MDB corruption trial". BBC News. 2020-07-28.
29. ↑ "High Court allows IRB to collect RM1.69b in tax arrears from former PM Najib". www.malaymail.com. 2020-07-22.
30. ↑ Correspondent, Nadirah H. RodziMalaysia (2021-12-08). "Malaysia's Court of Appeal upholds ex-PM Najib Razak's conviction in 1MDB-related case". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
31. ↑ "Najib Razak: Malaysia's ex-PM starts jail term after final appeal fails". BBC News. 2022-08-23.
32. ↑ Times, New Straits (2022-08-23). "Najib taken to Kajang Prison". NST Online.
33. ↑ Vega, Chito de la (2024-02-02). "Malaysia pardons board halves sentence of jailed ex-PM Najib, convicted in 1MDB scandal". RAPPLER.
34. ↑ "Jailed former Malaysia premier Najib Razak seeks to serve remaining sentence under house arrest". AP News. 2024-04-04.
35. ↑ "Malaysian court tosses jailed ex-Prime Minister Najib's bid to serve graft sentence in house arrest". AP News. 2024-07-03.