KUALA LUMPUR: The decision to reduce Datuk Seri Najib Razak's jail sentence and fine will erode public trust in the government's ability to uphold its moral position on matters related to good governance.
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs chief executive officer Dr Tricia Yeoh, in a statement, said the Federal Territories Pardons Board's decision last week to halve Najib's jail time from 12 to six years and reduce his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million signals that abuse of power and misappropriation of public funds are easily forgiven.
"The public knows that the Federal Territories minister and attorney-general, who are appointed by the prime minister, both sit on the Pardons Board.
"With their inclusion, the public may assume that the reprieve would have been considered with agreement from the current political leadership.
"The decision contradicts the Madani government's commitment to tackling corruption, where Prime Minister Datuk Sri Anwar Ibrahim had ambitiously set a target for Malaysia to reach the top 25 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by 2033."
She added that the sentence reduction may reverse Malaysia's achievement in its latest CPI ranking, having moved up four positions to 57th.
Yeoh said Najib's sentence reduction for a crime "directly related to the biggest corruption scandal in the nation's history" would also have negative implications on the perception of the international business community.
Yeoh called on the government to provide clarity over its position over democracy and good governance, specifically how the administration intends to renew its efforts towards combating corruption.
"The new National Anti-Corruption Strategy, which is slated to be launched soon, should state clearly what its plans are to strengthen the nation's institutions so that a case like 1MDB and SRC, which have greatly drained the nation's financial resources and severely damaged our international reputation, will never again occur," she said.
Najib was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of one count of abuse of power with regard to Retirement Fund Inc's RM4 billion loan to SRC International Sdn Bhd, as well as three counts each of criminal breach of trust and abuse of power involving RM42 million of SRC funds.