Former Malaysia PM Najib Razak may seek re-election to parliament despite conviction
The Hindu
Najib still a MP but the constitution bars him from contesting elections unless he gets a pardon or a reprieve from the country’s monarch.
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, undetered by a corruption conviction that would block him from running.
Mr. Najib’s graft-tainted party, the last month after it was ousted from power three years ago over a multi-billion dollar scandal. Opponents had expressed fears that party leaders facing charges could secure leniency once back in control.
Mr. Najib, who served as premier for nine years until 2018, 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.
More than 2.6 lakh village and ward volunteers in Andhra Pradesh, once celebrated as the government’s grassroots champions for their crucial role in implementing welfare schemes, are now in a dilemma after learning that their tenure has not been renewed after August 2023 even though they have been paid honoraria till June 2024. Disowned by both YSRCP, which was in power when they were appointed, and the current ruling TDP, which made a poll promise to double their pay, these former volunteers are ruing the day they signed up for the role which they don’t know if even still exists