Melaka polls become test of Najib house arrest row, with GE16 battle lines emerging

Detailed summary

Melaka voters head to the polls today for a state election that began as a contest over development, governance and political alliances, but has ...

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Melaka voters head to the polls today for a state election that began as a contest over development, governance and political alliances, but has become increasingly dominated by the controversy surrounding former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s house arrest.

The issue has given Barisan Nasional (BN), particularly Umno, an opportunity to present Najib’s transfer from prison to home detention as the fruit of its efforts and a promise delivered to its supporters.

Meanwhile, Pakatan Harapan (PH) has used the controversy as a rallying point to challenge Umno and mobilise voters unhappy with the decision.

Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has argued that the conditional pardon granted to Najib under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution must be respected, warning that protests against the decision could amount to challenging the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s constitutional authority.

DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke – who resigned as transport minister after the High Court allowed Najib to serve the remainder of his six-year SRC International Sdn Bhd sentence under house arrest – has urged Melaka voters to channel their dissatisfaction through the ballot box.

The Najib controversy featured prominently at the rival coalitions’ final campaign rallies on Thursday night, with both PH and the BN-Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance making the former prime minister’s house arrest a central theme in their appeals to voters, albeit from opposing positions.

At PH’s grand finale mega ceramah in Hang Tuah Jaya, several coalition leaders, including Amanah deputy president Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa and DAP national chairman Gobind Singh Deo, raised Najib’s SRC case and the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal while urging Melaka voters to send a message through their ballots.

At the BN-PN grand finale mega ceramah in Bukit Katil on the same night, leaders from Umno, PAS and their allies defended the royal decision on Najib’s house arrest while…

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