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Malaysia Transport Minister Anthony Loke confirms he will resign when Najib begins house arrest
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
The new development is that UMNO says it has paid Najib Razak’s RM50 million fine, clearing a condition for the former prime minister to serve the rest of his prison sentence under house arrest. Transport Minister Anthony Loke says he will resign as soon as Najib enters his home, fulfilling a pledge made in protest at the conditional royal pardon.
Loke said he would write to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim about his resignation. Anwar had asked him to stay in the Cabinet temporarily until house arrest began; Loke’s Democratic Action Party is part of Anwar’s governing coalition. The pardon, granted on 18 September, allows Najib to serve his six-year sentence at home until 23 August 2028; reports say he will be supervised by the prison department and have restricted family visits.
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In short
- UMNO says Najib’s RM50 million fine has been paid.
- Loke will resign when Najib begins house arrest.
- Najib’s sentence is due to end on 23 August 2028.
How this story developed
- 47 minutes ago Malaysia’s transport minister and Democratic Action Party chief Anthony Loke says he will resign when former prime minister Najib Razak begins serving the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest.
- 51 minutes ago The new development is that UMNO says it has paid Najib Razak’s RM50 million fine, clearing a condition for the former prime minister to serve the rest of his prison sentence under house arrest.
Full account
Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke says he will leave the Cabinet when former prime minister Najib Razak begins serving the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. Loke, who leads the Democratic Action Party (DAP), told reporters on Friday that he would send Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim a resignation letter when Najib reached his home.
Loke first announced in September that he intended to resign in protest at the conditional royal pardon granted to Najib. He later agreed to stay in the post temporarily after Anwar asked him to do so, setting Najib’s transfer to house arrest as the point at which he would step down. DAP is part of Anwar’s governing Pakatan Harapan coalition.
The timing was thrown into doubt on Friday. Najib’s party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), said it had paid the RM50 million fine attached to the pardon. His lawyer said he had received the house-arrest order and was taking it to Kajang prison, and that the move could happen that day. But the Attorney General’s Chambers said Najib would remain in prison for now while legal questions about the pardon’s terms were clarified.
Najib has been imprisoned since 2022 after a conviction in a corruption and embezzlement case linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad, the state fund he co-founded while prime minister. He denies wrongdoing. The pardon, granted by Sultan Ibrahim in September, allows him to serve the remainder of his six-year sentence at home, subject to conditions including payment of the fine. Reports say he would be supervised by the prison department and face restrictions on family visits. A separate 1MDB case has resulted in another prison sentence and a large fine, which Najib has appealed.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The first report focuses on Loke’s pledge and the political circumstances behind his decision to remain in Cabinet temporarily. The second centres on Najib’s expected transfer and adds that the Attorney General’s Chambers suspended it pending clarification of legal questions; it also includes more detail on Najib’s other 1MDB conviction and political debate around the pardon.
The reports describe the fine in different rounded US-dollar terms: approximately US$12.3 million in the first and $12 million in the second. The first gives the date of the pardon as 18 September, while the second refers to it more generally as having been granted in September.
Left-leaning outlets 1
Only here: court, grants, malaysian, royal, pardon
Centre outlets 1
Only here: malaysia, transport, minister, anthony, loke
Every side used: najib, house, arrest
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The case for
Loke’s resignation could be defended as keeping faith with a public pledge made in protest at a decision he considers damaging to accountability and public confidence. Leaving office when house arrest begins may also let him signal that participation in government has limits, even while his party remains in the governing coalition.
The case against
Staying in Cabinet could be defended as a way for Loke to continue serving the public and influencing policy through the coalition, rather than surrendering that role over a decision made by the pardon authorities. Anwar’s request that he remain temporarily may also reflect the value of government stability, while resignation could weaken the coalition without changing Najib’s sentence or its conditions.
Explained simply
Najib Razak was Malaysia’s prime minister from 2009 to 2018. He was jailed after being convicted in a case linked to 1MDB, a state investment fund, and later received a royal pardon that shortened his sentence and allowed him to serve it at home.
Anthony Loke is a minister in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition government and leads the Democratic Action Party. His party is one of several working with Anwar, whose government must manage differing views among its partners.
The case matters because it has raised debate in Malaysia about how pardons are granted and whether political leaders are treated equally under the law. Najib’s move to house arrest, and Loke’s response to it, may also put pressure on the governing coalition.
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