Malaysia: Muhyiddin’s razor-thin parliamentary majority in spotlight after MP found guilty of corruption
- Tengku Adnan Mansor, a minister in the cabinet of disgraced former premier Najib Razak, has been found guilty of graft for taking a US$495,000 bribe
- The verdict comes just days after the 2021 budget was narrowly passed, raising questions as to whether the government’s position will be further weakened
The Monday verdict came just days after Malaysia’s hotly debated 2021 budget was narrowly passed, raising questions as to whether Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s slim two-vote parliamentary majority will now be further weakened.
Tengku Adnan was on Monday sentenced to 12 months in prison and fined 2 million ringgit (US$495,000), with the judge allowing a stay of execution pending appeal.
Malaysian corruption trial halted as PM Muhyiddin faces pressure over draft budget
Before sentencing, deputy public prosecutor Julia Ibrahim said a fine of “nothing less than 2 million ringgit” would be sufficient, pointing out that in March, during the early days of the trial, Tengku Adnan had described the amount as “just like my pocket money”.
The former top leader in the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) was in 2016 charged with receiving a bribe of 2 million ringgit from a businessman in his capacity as a public servant , two years before Umno was dethroned in the 2018 election.
While not officially part of the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition, which took power earlier this year after an internal coup, Umno politicians make up part of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s cabinet.
Analyst James Chin of the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute said that for now, the prime minister’s tenuous position as leader of the fractured Perikatan Nasional alliance was safe.
“He survived the budget process with 111 votes in favour to 108 votes against. Now it will be quiet until the Lunar New Year in February,” he said.
In court on Monday, Tengku Adnan’s lawyer mentioned his position as an MP and the “slim majority” held by the ruling government, only to be swiftly countered by Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan who retorted: “Should I be concerned with the political situation in this country?”
In Malaysia, MPs are disqualified if sentenced to a jail term of more than a year or a fine exceeding 2,000 ringgit if the sentence is not overturned at the highest level and they have not received a “free pardon”. Tengku Adnan is currently able to retain his position, but will not be able to run for office should elections be called.
Said Chin from the University of Tasmania: “This guilty verdict doesn’t mean much, there’s an appeal process. He stands a good chance of getting away with it. Now all eyes are on different deals – there is talk of a cabinet reshuffle to see more Umno faces made ministers alongside Muhyiddin’s [nationalist] Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.”
02:05
Disabled food delivery rider on front line of Malaysia’s fight against Covid-19 pandemic
Political scientist Wong Chin Huat said “slow negotiations” would continue to take place between Muhyiddin and his political allies, Umno and right-wing Islamist party PAS.
“The premier is perhaps overestimating his security,” Wong said. “However, I am highly doubtful that elections will be called soon. Firstly, the pandemic may not subside so soon. Secondly, economic depression may set in by then.”
The ex-premier still faces a raft of charges of abuse of power and money laundering, spread out across several pending trials. However, Najib remains a powerful figure in Umno, the nation’s largest party, which has 3.2 million members.
Analyst and academic Awang Azman Awang Pawi of University Malaya’s Institute of Malay Studies said the Tengku Adnan verdict would weaken Najib’s faction within Umno, opening up opportunities for others within the party to wrest control.
The nearly man: will Anwar Ibrahim ever lead Malaysia?
“On top of that, the verdict also tells potential detractors that there is no political interference in this case, as they suggested was the case in Musa Aman‘s acquittal,” he said, referring to another Najib ally who was recently acquitted of 46 charges of corruption and money-laundering.
Other politicians from the previous regime are also facing graft charges, including Umno supreme council member Bung Moktar and former minister Isa Samad.
Riza received a discharge not amounting to an acquittal upon agreeing to a settlement with the government, which included the compounding and recovery of US$107.3 million in overseas assets.
