𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗢’ 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜 𝗡𝗔𝗝𝗜𝗕 𝗧𝗨𝗡 𝗥𝗔𝗭𝗔𝗞 The news that Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak has been granted a conditional pardon and released into house arrest will inevitably be received differently by different segments of Malaysian society. Some will be angry. Some will be disappointed. Others will be pleased. I hope Malaysians will be given the space to express their views, so long as they do so within the bounds of the law. At the same time, I hope ordinary Malaysians will exercise restraint in expressing their views on this matter. The decision has been made, and it has taken place under a Pakatan Harapan administration. It is therefore incumbent upon YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the PH leadership from PKR, DAP and AMANAH to provide the public with a proper explanation, rather than simply repeating the argument that the matter was beyond their control. This is not merely a question of politics. It is about the debt that Dato’ Seri Anwar and PH owe to the Malaysian people over 1MDB — particularly the many unnamed individuals who took enormous personal and professional risks in the course of doing their jobs, ultimately helping to bring the 1MDB scandal to public attention. Dato’ Seri Anwar benefited significantly, politically, from the 1MDB issue. Beyond speeches delivered in Parliament and prepared by speechwriters, he was not at the forefront of uncovering and scrutinising the 1MDB scandal in the way that many ordinary Malaysians were. At the height of the 1MDB controversy, between 2015 and 2018, he was in prison. The responsibility of defending the public interest over 1MDB was instead shouldered by ordinary Malaysians — civil servants, journalists and activists. Many of them remain unnamed to this day. The 1MDB scandal also persuaded some Malaysians who had never previously voted for PH to support the coalition and help bring it to government in the 2018 general election. It is therefore entirely reasonable for Malaysians to expect Dato’ Seri Anwar and the PH leadership to explain the decision to release Dato’ Seri Najib into house arrest, if only to address the concerns of those who are disappointed by it. At the very least, Dato’ Seri Anwar should disclose in detail the conditions governing the house arrest, so that action can be taken should there be any clear breach of those conditions. Let ordinary Malaysians be the eyes and ears of society, to ensure that the house arrest is enforced strictly and in full accordance with the conditions imposed. To Malaysians who feel deeply about the wrongdoing surrounding 1MDB and the many consequences that followed from the scandal, I hope we will all remember that safeguarding the public trust is a responsibility that never ends. It is our responsibility to continue educating younger generations about what happened, and about the importance of the continuing effort to build a culture of integrity in the governance of our country. To Dato’ Seri Najib, his family and his supporters, I hope they understand that the wounds left by the 1MDB scandal run deep for many Malaysians. While I accept the decision that has been made, I believe it would be best for the house arrest to proceed quietly, without unnecessarily provoking further public reaction. #rafiziramli #1mdb #housearrest #conditionalpardon #najibrazak - @rafiziramli